A final draft for a Gaza ceasefire deal has been handed to Hamas and Israel following a breakthrough in negotiations, with key prisoner exchange details emerging.
Qatar has handed Hamas and Israel a final draft of a ceasefire deal after a “breakthrough” in talks in the early hours of Monday, Reuters reported, citing an official close to the negotiations.
Those who participated in the talks reportedly included US President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, the chiefs of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies, Qatar’s prime minister, and officials from the Joe Biden administration.
Qatar has handed Israel and Hamas a “final” draft of a ceasefire and prisoner release agreement designed to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Monday, after a breakthrough was reached in Doha.https://t.co/y9NxKpjVFV
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 13, 2025
“The next 24 hours will be pivotal to reaching the deal,” the official told Reuters.
Smotrich: ‘Surrender’
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized the current deal as a “surrender,” and vowed he would not be part of a “catastrophe for the national security of the state of Israel.”
The “surrender deal”, he said on X, would include “releasing terrorist hostages, stopping the war and dissolving its achievements that were bought with much blood, and abandoning many hostages.”
העסקה המתגבשת היא קטסטרופה לביטחון הלאומי של מדינת ישראל.
לא נהיה חלק מעסקת כניעה שתכלול שיחרור ארכי מחבלים, עצירת מלחמה ומסמוס הישגיה שנקנו בדמים מרובים, והפקרת חטופים רבים.
זה הזמן להמשיך בכל הכוח, לכבוש ולטהר את כל הרצועה, לקחת סוף סוף מידי חמאס את השליטה על הסיוע ההומניטרי…— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) January 13, 2025
“This is the time to continue with all our might, to occupy and cleanse the entire Strip, to finally take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas, and to open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and all the hostages are returned,” Smotrich added.
Irate Prisoner Families
The families of Israeli detainees in Gaza slammed Smotrich in a Knesset Finance Committee meeting for his remarks. One family member argued that Smotrich was “sacrificing” his brother, reported The Jerusalem Post.
Hamas Message Spurs Urgent Israeli Meeting amid Ceasefire Negotiations – Report
According to the Times of Israel, a political source told the Walla news outlet on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “was trying to assess if Smotrich would resign” from the government if a deal was reached.
The Walla report indicates that “the premier believes there’s a high probability far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will quit the government if there is a hostage deal, so Netanyahu is hoping to convince Smotrich to, at most, vote against an agreement without quitting the coalition,” reported the Times of Israel.
Exchange Details
The Al-Jazeera Arabic news website reported that Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority, revealed that more than 3,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released in the expected ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement including 200 of those sentenced to life imprisonment.
The website cited statements published by the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency in which Fares explained that the first phase would include the release of 25 Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the release of 48 prisoners from the Shalit deal and their return to their homes. This is in addition to 200 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, and another 1,000 prisoners, including all children and women, as well as the sick who are in detention.
Hamas: No Prisoner Exchange Deal without Israeli Pullout and Ceasefire in Gaza
Fares reportedly said all aforementioned groups will return to their homes in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, except prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, who will likely be deported to three countries; namely Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.
Fares pointed out that Tel Aviv insisted on increasing the number of Israeli detainees released in the first stage to include nine others, among them wounded soldiers, in exchange for an additional factor in the deal that is currently being negotiated. This includes the release of more detainees serving a life sentence.
‘Very Promising’
The Al-Jazeera report added that in statements to the Anadolu news agency, Fares said he would be visiting Doha to ensure the prisoner exchange deal was “accurate.” Fares noted that he was not part of the negotiating team.
Reuters cited a Palestinian official close to the talks as saying that news from Doha was “very promising.”
Israel "caught off guard" that Hamas wants to release all hostages & end the war
We've been saying for months: Netanyahu has been trying everything possible to sabotage all ceasefire proposals, while Biden has been gaslighting & covering up his failure/refusal to press Israel pic.twitter.com/0sN00mSdQg
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) January 12, 2025
Al-Jazeera cites the Israeli Channel 12 as reporting that in the last two days, Trump began personally intervening in the issue of the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, as he was keen on a deal before taking office.
The channel also quoted an Israeli source as saying that it was decided to send the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet to negotiations in Doha after Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Netanyahu.
Biden Chats to Netanyahu
In a telephone call on Sunday, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed “the ongoing negotiations in Doha for a ceasefire and hostage release deal based on the May 27, 2024, arrangement described by the President last year and endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council,” according to a White House statement.
“He stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” the statement noted.
US President Joe Biden has spoken to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing talks for a ceasefire in Gaza and stressed the “immediate need” for a truce, as well as the return of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian enclave.
🔗: https://t.co/VsIX4IQrJ5 pic.twitter.com/Nj6EIItahO
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 13, 2025
“The Prime Minister thanked the President for his lifelong support of Israel and for the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense,” it stated.
Biden also discussed “the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region.”
Last week, Biden told reporters that “some progress” is being made in prisoner exchange talks and he hoped his administration could broker such a deal before it expires on January 20, the Anadolu news agency reported.
(PC, AJA, Anadolu)
Bullsh!t.