By Andrew Mills and Nidal al-Mughrabi

DOHA/CAIRO (Reuters) – Mediator Qatar handed Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement to end the war in Gaza on Monday, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by the US President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, an official informed of the negotiations told Reuters.

The official said the text for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages was cut in talks in Doha that included the heads of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and Qatar’s prime minister. as well as Steve Witkoff, who will be the US envoy if Trump takes office. next week Officials from the outgoing US administration are also believed to be involved.

“The next 24 hours will be crucial to reach the deal,” the official said.

Israel’s Kan radio, citing an Israeli official, reported on Monday that the Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar had received a draft and that the Israeli delegation had informed Israeli leaders. Israel, Hamas and Qatar’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.

Officials on both sides, while stopping short of confirming that a final draft has been reached, described progress in talks.

A senior Israeli official said a deal could be sealed within days if Hamas responds to a proposal. A Palestinian official close to the talks said that the information from Doha was “very good”, and added: “The gaps have been narrowed and there will be a big push towards an agreement if everything goes well in the end.”

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been working for more than a year on talks to end the war in Gaza, so far without fruit.

HELL TO PAY

Trump’s January 20 inauguration is widely seen in the region as a de facto deadline. The president-elect has said there will be “hell to pay” unless hostages held by Hamas are released before he takes office, while outgoing President Joe Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leave.

The official said talks continued into the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pushing Hamas officials. to conclude an agreement.

The head of Egypt’s general intelligence agency Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was also in the Qatari capital as part of the talks, the official said.

Trump envoy Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel several times since late November. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.

Biden also spoke on Sunday by phone with Netanyahu, stressing “the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza and the return of hostages with an influx of humanitarian aid made possible by the cessation of hostilities under the agreement ,” the White House said.

Israel launched its attack on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with most of the enclave destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.

The two sides have agreed for months on a broad principled cessation of hostilities in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. However, Hamas insisted that the agreement should lead to a permanent end to the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel said it would not end the war until Hamas was disbanded.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline nationalist who has opposed previous attempts to reach an agreement, denounced the latest proposals as a “rebellion” and a “disaster for the national security of the state of Israel”.