Baku, January 14, AZERTAC

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediator Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the “closest point” yet to sealing a deal that would bring them a step closer to ending the war.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.

All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks.

“I believe we will get a ceasefire,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech Tuesday, asserting it was up to Hamas.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end the 15-month war and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it. Nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third are dead.

Any deal is expected to pause the fighting and bring hopes for winding down the most deadly and destructive war they’ve ever fought, a conflict that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

It would bring relief to the hard-hit Gaza Strip, where Israel’s offensive has reduced large areas to rubble and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them at risk of famine. Dozens of Israeli hostages would be reunited with loved ones.

If a deal is reached, it would not go into effect immediately. The plan would need approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet and then his full Cabinet. Both are dominated by Netanyahu allies and are likely to approve any proposal he presents.

Officials have have expressed optimism before, only for negotiations to stall. But they are now suggesting that they can conclude an agreement ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a weekly briefing Tuesday that the negotiations were productive: “Today, we are at the closest point ever to having a deal.”

Hamas said in a statement that negotiations had reached their “final stage.”

In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250. Around half those hostages were freed during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Of those remaining, families say, two are children, 13 are women and 83 are men.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.