Bombay Durpun - Gaza truce talks enter 'final round': source briefed on negotiations

Meditators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have intensified efforts to seal a ceasefire that would facilitate the release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal was "on the brink" of being finalised, just days ahead of the inauguration of his successor, Donald Trump.

Hamas's October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

On that day, militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the UN considers reliable.

"A final round of talks is expected to take place today in Doha," the source briefed on the talks told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The source said that Tuesday's meetings "are aimed at finalising the remaining details of the deal".

The heads of Israel's intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations and Qatar's prime minister are due at the talks, the source said.

"Mediators will hold separate talks with Hamas," the source added.

Sources close to the talks and Israeli media said on Tuesday that the first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israeli media also reported on Tuesday that under the proposed deal, Israel would be allowed to maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza during the implementation of the first phase.

That source also said a new "concrete" proposal was being presented to the parties, and that there had been a "positive" initial response from both sides.

- 'Make it happen' -

On Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that a truce deal could be finalised this week.

"I'm not making a promise or prediction, but it is there for the taking and we are going to work to make it happen," Sullivan told reporters.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, however, warned on Monday he would oppose any deal that stopped the war.

"The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel's national security," Smotrich said on X.

"We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war... and abandoning many hostages still in captivity."

Smotrich, an outspoken member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza.

His comments came amid rising calls by Israelis, particularly families of hostages held in Gaza, to reach an accord that would bring their loved ones home.

Among the key sticking points in the talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

Other points of contention include the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory and the reopening of border crossings.

Netanyahu has firmly rejected a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and has opposed any Palestinian governance of the territory.

Even as intense diplomatic efforts continued towards a truce deal, Israeli forces pounded targets across Gaza.

The territory's civil defence agency said on Tuesday that overnight air strikes and shelling killed at least 18 people in Gaza City in the north, the central area of Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis in the south.

"Last night was harsh and bloody," spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about the latest strikes.

M.T.Johanson--BD