Hamas accepts draft agreement for Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal; awaits Israel's approval: Report

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has accepted a draft agreement on Tuesday (Jan 14) for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the release of dozens of hostages, The Times of Israel reported citing two officials involved in the ongoing talks.

This comes while Israel and Hamas are holding talks on the final ceasefire and hostage agreement, along with the Arab mediators.

An Israeli official said that progress had been made, but, the details are still being finalised.

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An Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed the authenticity of the copy of the proposed agreement obtained by The Associated Press.

Moreover, the plan is still needed to be submitted to Israel's cabinet for final approval.

Talks in 'final stages'

Qatar's foreign ministry said that the negotiations in Doha for the Gaza truce and hostage release deal are in their "final stages", adding that the most obstacles had been overcome.

The ministry further said that this would lead to an agreement very soon.

"We do believe that we are at the final stages… certainly we are hopeful that this would lead very soon to an agreement,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari tells a news conference, adding that “until there is an announcement… we shouldn’t be over-excited about what’s happening right now," the ministry stated.

"During the past months, there were underlying issues, major issues between the two parties unresolved. These issues were resolved during the talks in the past couple of weeks, and therefore we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed."

Deal 'could be' made today

A Palestinian source close to the talks told Reuters that "if all goes well", the deal can be finalised on Tuesday (Jan 14), The Times of Israel reported.

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(With inputs from agencies)