Israeli diplomatic officials said on Monday evening that Israel was in the “advanced stages of the negotiations” with Hamas for a ceasefire deal that would see the terror group release some of the hostages it has been holding in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and ending more than 15 months of war.

Briefing military and diplomatic reporters, the officials said there had been progress in the talks in Doha, which are being coordinated by mediator countries Qatar and Egypt and the outgoing and incoming US administrations, but stressed that “the deal is not finalized.”

According to the Israeli officials, the progress in the negotiations came as a result of the fall of the Iranian-led Axis in the Middle East, with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which led to more pressure on Hamas.

The officials also said that pressure and threats from incoming US President-elect Donald Trump had helped bring Hamas to the table, and they stressed that Israel was working with both teams, including Biden envoy Brett McGurk and Trump official Steve Witkoff, and that the administrations were also coordinating with each other.

The officials said that the first stage of the potential deal would see Hamas release 33 “humanitarian” hostages — children, women, female soldiers, the elderly and the sick. Israel believes most of the 33 are alive but that some are dead, the officials said. They noted that Jerusalem has not yet received any confirmation of their status.

If the first stage is carried out, then on the 16th day of the deal coming into effect, Israel will begin negotiations on a second stage to free the remaining captives — male soldiers and men of military age — and the bodies of slain hostages, the officials said.

They denied a report from earlier on Monday that claimed that the first Israeli hostages would only be released a week into the ceasefire taking effect.

It is believed that 94 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

The officials said that Israel was holding onto significant “assets,” including high-profile terrorists and territory in the Gaza Strip, to use as leverage in the second stage of negotiations to “ensure that every hostage is returned home.”

Under the complete ceasefire agreement, Israel will withdraw from most areas of the Gaza Strip and release large numbers of Palestinian security prisoners, including terrorists who carried out deadly attacks. High-profile “murderer” terrorists will not be released to the West Bank under the deal, the officials said, and nobody who took part in the October 7 Hamas onslaught will be freed, the officials said.

Unconfirmed reports have indicated that some 150-200 “murderer” terrorists would be freed, and that they would not be allowed to return to the West Bank, but, rather, would go to Gaza, and possibly to Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar.

The Saudi TV station al-Hadath reported that Israel had sent Hamas a list of names of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners potentially to be released, and that Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Intifada leader, who is serving multiple life terms for murder, was not among them. The report was not confirmed, and the Justice Ministry said it had not been asked to compile lists of security prisoners to be freed.

An Israeli official said........

© The Times of Israel