CNN
 — 

Negotiators working to strike a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the discharge of Israeli hostages made progress over the weekend, in accordance with a senior US official acquainted with the talks in Cairo, the place mediators mentioned “last particulars” of a possible settlement together with the names of prisoners that will be exchanged as a part of the pact.

Whereas such progress doesn’t assure a last settlement anytime quickly, negotiators within the Egyptian capital at the moment are discussing the “nuts and bolts” of a deal, the official mentioned.

Negotiators have labored for months to bridge calls for by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza.

The remaining sticking factors, whereas important, are seen as probably surmountable, the official mentioned.

One subject is the Israeli navy’s presence on Gaza’s aspect of the border with Egypt, an space generally known as the Philadelphi hall. Hamas opposes Israel’s want to proceed to station troops there within the early part of a ceasefire deal.

The US official mentioned the present proposal requires an Israeli navy withdrawal from “densely populated areas” in Gaza, and that the present debate is targeted on what components of the Philadelphi hall qualify as densely-populated versus unpopulated, the place the IDF will keep a presence within the first part of an settlement.

Nonetheless, the Hamas negotiating delegation left Cairo on Sunday publicly reiterating the group’s demand that any settlement should embody “a everlasting ceasefire, an entire withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the liberty of return of residents to their areas, reduction and reconstruction, and a critical change deal.”

The US official mentioned regardless of public feedback by Hamas, “negotiators imagine Hamas could also be extra versatile on an Israeli presence throughout the first part of an settlement.”

The proposed settlement includes a “enormous surge of humanitarian support”, in addition to a dedication to take away rubble and start reconstruction, that are meant to deliver “huge reduction for Gazans,” mentioned the US official.

US negotiators anticipate Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to obtain a replica of the newest proposal as quickly as the approaching days, although the timing shouldn’t be clear given the issue of communications with him.

A second US official mentioned talks in Cairo have been “constructive and have been performed in a spirit on all sides to succeed in a last and implementable settlement,” and that lower-level working group talks would proceed within the coming days to “additional handle remaining points and particulars.”

On Thursday, the US and Egypt met with Israel to attempt to slim remaining gaps and make clear points within the textual content of bridging proposal, in accordance with a supply acquainted with the matter. The US and Egypt met bilaterally on Friday to debate and put together for the high-level talks this previous weekend.

On Saturday, Qatar and Egypt met with senior representatives of Hamas and went by way of every paragraph of the proposal intimately to determine any remaining points or inquiries to make clear, the supply mentioned.

The truth that the talks in Cairo went forward Sunday regardless of the large change of fireside between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah over the weekend offered some sense of reduction. Some US and Israeli officers imagine that Hezbollah’s strike, which was largely neutralized by Israeli forces, removes leverage which Hamas had hoped would apply strain on Israel for additional concessions.

Stress is mounting to seal a deal towards the backdrop of extreme hunger, dire water shortages, mass displacement and illness in Gaza, attributable to Israel’s warfare on Hamas within the strip. Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at the very least 40,435 Palestinians and injured one other 93,534 individuals, in accordance with the Ministry of Well being there.

The Israeli navy launched its aerial and floor assault in Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing round 1,200 individuals and abducting greater than 250, in accordance with Israeli authorities. There are 109 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, together with 36 believed to be lifeless, in accordance with knowledge from the Israeli authorities’s press workplace.