WASHINGTON, January 17. /TASS/. Israel, the Palestinian movement Hamas, the US and Qatar have officially signed a deal on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages, the Axios news website reported, citing sources.
According to the sources, US President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk, US President-elect Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Qatari and Egyptian mediators worked on the deal.
According to Axios, "the Israeli security cabinet was supposed to convene on Thursday morning to vote on the agreement, but several last minute disputes in the negotiations in Doha delayed the official signing of the agreement a day." "The delay in the vote will postpone the start of the ceasefire and the release of the first three hostages from Sunday to at least Monday, according to Israeli officials," the media outlet notes.
The signing was delayed because of a disagreement about the final list of Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal. Hamas demanded to swap several military leaders serving life sentences for planning and orchestrating terrorist attacks, Axios points out.
Al Arabiya reported earlier, citing sources, that Hamas and Israel had signed a deal to declare a ceasefire in Gaza and release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians prisoners.
Gaza deal
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, announced late on January 15 that Doha, Cairo and Washington had brokered an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. He said the deal was supposed to take effect on Sunday, January 19.
According to the Qatari official, during the initial 42-day phase, Hamas will release 33 Israeli military and civilian female hostages, as well as wounded civilians, children, and the elderly, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Israel will withdraw its forces at least 700 meters away from the Gaza border, Al Jazeera reported, citing a source. In the first phase of the deal, both parties plan to negotiate the terms of subsequent phases, including the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.