TRANSCRIPT
1 year, 3 months, 6 days and dozens of failed ceasefire agreement attempts.
But it looks like the tables may finally be turning on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Israeli officials say that Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during what would be the first phase of a potential 42-day ceasefire agreement.
US President Joe Biden says he is confident about the latest talks in Doha.
“In the war between Israel and Hamas, we're on the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago, finally coming to fruition. I spoke to the Prime Minister of Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu) yesterday. I spoke to the Emir of Qatar today. I look forward to speaking with (Egyptian) President Sissi soon. Pressing hard to close this. The deal we have a structure which frees the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security in Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who've suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started. They've been through hell”
According to the White House, the ceasefire resolution could be signed still this week.
This comes as Gaza's health authorities say that more than 46,000 Palestinians, including civilians and combatants, have been killed by the Israeli military since October 7th.
Meanwhile, 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israel.
Israel is confident that most of the 33 hostages to be returned during the potential ceasefire are still alive.
Even so, it seems that hostages' families have not been informated about the details of the agreement.
Ruby Chen, whose son Itay Chen was killed on 7 October and whose body remains in Gaza, says the lack of concrete information is frustrating.
“The families are feeling unease and not understanding exactly what's going on. We're not getting any guidance yet from the government of Israel understanding if it is a deal for all the hostages or is it just a partial deal that there is no confidence that this deal that is starting today with a number of hostages will actually continue to a deal that will have a second stage or third stage.”
Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Adviser, explains that an impasse over the release of Hamas prisoners held in Israel has been one of the biggest obstacles to reaching an agreement.
“Since June, we've had multiple efforts to close the deal. We've come close and haven't been able to get across the line. There have been some details, particularly around the formulas with respect to prisoner releases, formulas around the exact disposition of Israeli forces and other things along those lines. Those details we have been hammering away at week after week, month after month."
But he says this has changed.
“I haven't stood at this podium and said anything particularly optimistic about a hostage deal in quite some time. And that's because we haven't been in the position that I find I think we are in today. Why is that? It's because the gaps have fundamentally narrow down the key issues. The formulas over prisoner exchanges, the formulas over the details of how Israel's forces will be postured in their pullback in the Gaza Strip, the details over how to conduct the humanitarian surge in the wake of the guns going silent. These things now on paper, the gaps between the two sides are slowly getting removed, one by one and issues are closing."
But how would this ceasefire agreement actually work?
The negotiations are focused on an agreement that would take place in phases.
This first phase would take place over 15 days, during which time Hamas would release the 33 hostages.
In return, Israel would withdraw troops from Palestinian population centres, allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and also work with international partners to bring humanitarian aid to the territory.
On day 16, the doors would be open to start talks on a final ceasefire agreement.
This time, discussions would be over a complete end to the fighting, that is, the total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the final return of all remaining hostages, both dead and alive.
Some Palestinian prisoners would be released, but not high-profile ones who took part on 7 October.
In a third and final stage, the governance and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would be addressed.
And although previous negotiations have repeatedly failed, experts say that the change of power in the United States might be influencing the potential success of the current agreement.
US President-elect Donald Trump has been pressuring that the parties reach a consensus by the time of his inauguration, on 20th of January.
