Sources said that Israel and Hamas agreed in principle to a ceasefire and a hostage agreement

A draft agreement for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release has been agreed in principle, and if all goes well, Israel and Hamas will finalize it this week, Arab, American and Israeli officials told CBS News.

US and regional sources said that if the final details are approved, and the Israeli government also votes to approve it shortly afterwards, the deal could begin implementation at the end of this week. This means that President Biden has sought it for a long time Ceasefire agreement They could come together in the final days of his presidency, and the next president-elect, Donald Trump, would oversee its implementation.

Sources told CBS News that the parties have begun drafting general statements about success and hopes are high for all parties.

Reaching a ceasefire and a hostage release agreement

The talks have been ongoing in Doha for the past few weeks and continued on Tuesday.

Mr. Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, has been in the region for the better part of a month working to close the deal, coordinating regularly with Steve Witkoff, whom Trump appointed to be a special Middle East envoy.

Vitkov was in Israel over the weekend for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Qatari Prime Minister is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Mossad Director David Barnea to help finalize the details of the agreement.

While the Biden administration has been formulating a detailed plan for the so-called “day after” of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, its implementation and implementation will be left to the Trump administration. Privately, US officials acknowledge that this governance plan is ambitious, and it will be up to the Trump team to help shape the future of Palestinian Gaza and pressure the Netanyahu government and Hamas to adhere to later stages of the deal.

He added: “I think the pressure is mounting on Hamas to say yes, and I think Israel has also achieved a significant amount of its military goals in Gaza, and is therefore in a position to say yes.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Sullivan said Israel and Hamas had been on the verge of reaching an agreement before, but things had faltered, but on Monday there was a “general feeling that this is moving in the right direction.”

“The question now is: Can we all collectively seize this opportunity and make it happen?” Sullivan said.

“We are in advanced stages of negotiations,” an Israeli political source told CBS News, adding that an agreement could be reached within hours or days. He added: “There is progress in all components of the agreement formula.”

What will the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas look like?

Sunday, President Biden has spoken With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone about the ongoing negotiations. The White House said the two leaders discussed the deal based on the arrangement Biden outlined last year.

The deal submitted for Israel and Hamas It appears similar to that arrangement, according to a copy of the deal from intermediary sources seen by CBS News and a senior Israeli official.

The deal consists of three stages, according to the copy seen by CBS News, and each stage will be negotiated as things progress.

During the first phase, which will take place over 42 days of the ceasefire, Hamas will release 33 women and children hostages, as well as hostages over the age of 50. For every hostage woman or child returned to Israel, Israel releases 30 Palestinian women and children from its prisons. Hamas will release all hostages over the age of 50, and Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners aged 50 or over.

On the first day of the ceasefire, Hamas will release three hostages, according to the document seen by CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas will release 4 hostages. After that, Hamas will release 3 hostages taken from Israel every seven days, starting with the living and then moving on to returning the bodies of the dead.

The draft, seen by CBS News, stated that during the hostage and prisoner exchange, a complete ceasefire would be reached in Gaza to allow aid to enter. International relief organizations and the United Nations will resume their operations in Gaza, and begin the process of rebuilding its infrastructure, such as water, electricity and sanitation systems. There will also be negotiations on the next phase of the deal.

The second phase of the deal will include the release of all male Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, according to the document seen by CBS News.

The third stage, which will be partially negotiated during the previous stages, will include the exchange of the bodies of the dead hostages and prisoners, the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza, and the opening of its borders.

Despite extensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the talks have repeatedly faltered over issues including the details of hostage and prisoner exchanges, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and whether the ceasefire will be permanent.

Hamas and other groups in Gaza are still holding about 100 hostages who were kidnapped during the attack on October 7, 2023. The militants killed about 1,200 people in this attack and kidnapped 250 others.

Israel killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza in response to the October 7 attack, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents were displaced. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to deliver aid and experts have warned of famine.

Marwan Al-Ghoul, Michel Ben Jal, and Mays Al-Bayaa contributed to this report.