Both Israel and Hamas have made progress in their talks about releasing hostages

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Three officials acknowledged that progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They were not authorized to discuss the talks.

Majed Al Ansari, an advisor to the Qatari prime minister and Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters in Doha, where the talks are being conducted, that an agreement was “not far away.” He added that the main obstacles have been overcome and the talks now are “about the final details.”

There are a number of contentious issues that need to be resolved, according to a Hamas official. The official wasn’t authorized to brief media and spoke anonymously.

The aim is to have a signed deal or a “declaration of principles” by Israel and Hamas — a commitment locking the sides into a pathway toward a ceasefire deal — by President Trump’s inauguration day, Jan. 20, according to an official with knowledge of the talks, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Two far right groups in the Netanyahu’s coalition threatened to leave if he made too many concessions. Members of the opposition have promised to back Netanyahu in order to release hostages, but hardliners’ anger could be a cause of instability down the road.

Netanyahu is hoping the prospect of a Trump administration will get his partners to stay in the government.

The head of Mossad, David Barnea, and Biden’s Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the same city. High-level Israeli officials who needed to sign off on any agreement are involved once again because of Barnea’s presence.

McGurk has been working on final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” He said that he was not certain if a deal could be reached by January 20.

“We are very, very close” to the end of the Gaza war and the determination of the fate of Hamas’s people in Gaza

“We are very, very close,” he said. “Yet being very close still means we’re far, because until you actually get across the finish line, we’re not there.”

The death toll from the war has increased to over 46,000 Palestinians according to Gazan health authorities. They have however noted that the majority of the verified dead have been women and children. The Israeli military says 405 soldiers have been killed in fighting since it invaded Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 7 rampage.

These are just a fraction of the hostages and prisoners that Hamas and Israel hold. The bodies of dual U.S. and Israeli citizens are being held by Hamas in Gaza. Israel is holding more than 10, 000 Palestinians.

Palestinians in Gaza have been trying to convince Israel to end its campaign that has devastated much of the territory and forced many people from their homes.

“We hear a lot about negotiations, but we don’t see it,” said Mr. Hammad, a resident of the city. “When we see it on the ground, then we believe that there is a truce.”

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Israel’s top security chiefs traveled to Qatar this weekend, and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross — the group that facilitated the last hostage-prisoner exchange in November 2023, a month into the war — is visiting Israel and Gaza, meeting officials in anticipation of a new deal.

Yet Israel has its own reasons to cooperate with Trump on expediting a deal: it wants his help pursuing diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and his support for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

A Hamas official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told NPR that Hamas is seeking to demonstrate flexibility by proposing several possible options to resolve each point of contention.

Qaddura Fares, who heads the main advocacy group in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and who is in Qatar on the sidelines of the talks, told NPR that Israel is discussing the release of three groups of prisoners.

Lew said that there’s a fear of unknown with the new administration. “There’s no daylight between the incoming administration and the outgoing administration in terms of wanting a hostage deal now and pressing all parties to make the concessions that are appropriate to reach that.”

President-elect Trump has repeatedly warned that if the hostages captured from Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, and held in Gaza aren’t released by his inauguration, there would be “hell to pay.”

The families of the remaining hostages worry that the pressure to release their loved ones will decline after the first phase. They have been lobbying for an agreement that will end the war and allow the release of hostages.

Large sections of the public in both Israel and Gaza are exhausted by the conflict and will welcome an agreement that promises a definitive end. There is opposition to the deal by some members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government because they believe that Hamas should be eradicated in order to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A further round of negotiations will begin 16 days into that first phase of the agreement, about further withdrawals of Israeli troops from Gaza, although the Israeli official said a full withdrawal would not happen until all hostages are fully released.

It is possible that the first exchange of Israelis and Palestinians will take place on the same day. The two sides are also talking about arrangements to allow displaced Palestinians in the south of Gaza to return to their homes in the north.

After the deal is signed, it would have to be approved by the full Cabinet and government, and it is likely to be challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. The terms might not be implemented for a few days.

He declined to give details of the impending agreement. But a senior Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, outlined some of the key provisions.

After more than fifteen months of fighting in their most devastating war ever, Israel and Hamas are extremely close to agreeing to a ceasefire, according to officials involved in the talks.