Negotiators also for the Gaza truce never faced, but by the end, only one floor separated the two opposing sides found in Qatar. The unknown background to the historical agreement that enters into force from Sunday 19 January. The Israel and Hamas talks through intermediaries from Qatar, Egypt and the US of ceasefire in Gaza had lasted for several months, sometimes hopeless. Now the main players were all inside a building in Doha and the rhythm was frenzy. CORVERSE As unfolds in CNN’s report, one deal was close, but things had gone wrong in the past: a source described a last-minute push to prevent the agreement from falling apart. “ Literally, negotiations were held up to 10 minutes before the press conference where the deal was announced. So things survived at the last minute, ” said the source who knows the conversations. The BBC spoke with several officials on all sides of the negotiations to unite how the last difficult days of the secret process unfolded. CORVERSE The basis of the historical agreement The overall framework of the agreement reached on January 15 was generally the same as the proposal presented by Joe Biden during his speech to the White House last May. It uses the same three-phase approach: A ceasefire, Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. However, sources who know the talks agreed that the dynamics of the talks changed decisively in mid-December and the pace changed. Hamas, already outraged by the assassination of her leader, Yahia Sinwar from Israel in Gaza two months earlier, had become increasingly isolated. Her ally, Hezbollah based in Lebanon had been decimated and agreed to a truce with Israel. The Iran-backed Bashar al-Assad government in Syria had also been swept away. The view in Washington was that Hamas had to give up the idea that “the cavalry was coming to save her”, as an American official said. “It is difficult to assess how substantially the equation changed and how Hamas changed attitude,” says a senior Biden government official who knows the talks. Hamas ” dictated” instead of negotiating an Israeli official who wanted to maintain his anonymity said Hamas “was not in a hurry” to enter into an agreement and that she ” dictated” instead of negotiating. They said this changed after Yahia Sinwar’s death and Israeli operations against Hamas allies in the region. In addition, the official said, “a momentum was created by both US governments” – Joe Biden’s White House and Donald Trump’s upcoming team. “We could not reach such an agreement until conditions change,” the official added. On December 12, Biden’s negotiating team visited Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk and CIA director, Bill Burns were all present. American official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that the meeting lasted “many hours” and focused on “new regional equation” and “how we launch from the ceasefire in Lebanon to another round of intensive discussions” about Gaza. Hamas’ optimism On December 16, weeks after Donald Trump’s victory, the BBC spoke to a Hamas official who was unusually optimistic about ceasefire efforts, implying that he seemed to be more serious. The official – who had taken part in all the talks since November 2023 – appeared reassured by the fact that an adviser to the upcoming US president had sent a message to the mediators saying Trump wanted an agreement before his inauguration. Trump had also warned that he would have to “extend hell” if Hamas did not agree to release the hostages – but the Palestinian official was positive. “This time, pressure will not be limited to Hamas, as was customary under the Biden government,” the official said. “There will also be pressure on Netanyahu. He is the one blocking the deal and Trump seems to understand it very well.” Reuters The thriller up to the pill – et However, the same official’s prediction that a deal could be made by Christmas, proved optimistic. In December, the process remained flanked by problems. Israel publicly ruled out the release of some high-profile prisoners, while the White House accused Hamas of setting barricades for hostage releases. A Biden government official said: “Hamas [refused] to agree on the list of hostages to be released in the first phase of the deal. This is very basic. This is a hostage release agreement. If you do not agree with the list of hostages to come out, there will be no deal.” The same official said Hamas made “totally untrue” allegations that he did not know the location of the hostages and added: “We held the line and basically left the table until Hamas agrees with hostage list”. An unnamed Israeli official said Hamas tried to hide the number of living hostages and “tried to dictate that they would only send us bodies.” For her part, Hamas claimed that Israel unexpectedly added 11 names to the list of hostages who wanted to be released in the first phase. Hamas considered them reserve soldiers, and therefore were not entitled to be released along with the women, wounded and elderly hostages to be released in the first phase. In the final line The door was kept open to Qatar and Egypt’s mediators to continue their efforts and on January 3, there was a rapid development when Hamas proposed the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners serving life imprisonment in exchange. There were already established reference conditions for such ‘trades’: For every hostage Hamas was to release, Israel should provide what had become known in the nomenclature of the draft agreement as a “key” – an agreed number or even specific names of Palestinian prisoners. An American official said: “There is an equation for how many Palestinian prisoners are coming out. So for female soldiers, for example, there is a key. And for old men, there’s a key. And for female citizens, there’s a key. And this has all been processed and prisoners have been named, hundreds and hundreds of prisoners on the list.” The negotiation exchange file – Palestinian prisoners for hostages held by Hamas – became known as “the keys”. Meetings that took place even at night in Doha became common during the final line of negotiations. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Caesar in Gaza, Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani announced. — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) In the last month they had evolved into the so-called “closeness talks”, with both sides – Israel and Hamas – in the same two-story building, according to multiple testimonies of officials who know the details. Senior American official said Hamas delegation was on the first floor and Israel on the above floor. The ombudsmen exchanged written messages as well as maps with proposals to leave Israeli troops and details about hostages or prisoners. “This required a huge volume of work and, I have to say, all of this was not complete, really, until [last] hours,” the official said. Within the building, delegations met separately with senior officials from Qatar and Egypt. Among those closely involved in the details was Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Two critical areas worked in the final stages of the talks: the lists of the hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the positions on the withdrawals of Israeli troops from populated areas in Gaza during the first phase. On January 9, the pressure had escalated. Trump’s envoy, Biden’s envoy, and Egypt’s intelligence chief met in Doha for a serious eight-hour negotiation session. A senior Egyptian official told the BBC: “We are at the closest point to reaching an agreement. ” An agreement had been reached on 90% of outstanding issues, but further talks were required. Steve Whitkov, Trump’s recently appointed envoy to the Middle East, was sent to Tel Aviv to meet Netanyahu. Although he had not yet officially taken up his position, the New York real estate tycoon was increasingly involved in the talks, for which Trump was keenly interested. He was about to be sent on a mission that proved decisive. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Game over When Trump’s Middle East man arrived in Israel on January 11, it was Saturday. Witkov was asked to wait until he was finished Saturday before meeting Netanyahu, but, in violation of habits, the envoy refused and asked to meet the Prime Minister immediately. Netanyahu seems to have been under severe pressure during the meeting and intervention from Trump camp to make the Israeli government set aside its final reservations seems to have been critical. The meeting was reportedly hesitant and the message to Netanyahu from the upcoming president was clear: Trump wants an agreement – now finish it! Commenting on these talks, an Israeli official who asked to remain anonymous said it was a “very important meeting”. When Witkoff returned to Doha, he remained in the Chamber with the talks, spending time with Biden’s envoy Mr McGurk, in what two American officials called a “almost unprecedented” transition effort in American diplomacy. This week, Hamas official Bassem Naim told Al Arabiya that “he could not imagine that [the deal] could be possible without the pressure of the upcoming government under the leadership of President Trump” – and specifically reported Witkoff’s presence in the talks. Until now, the fact that an agreement could be imminent has been open and the expectation of the public has created – especially between the families of those held hostage and the Palestinians displaced to Gaza. The last 72 hours of talks included a continuous back and forth for the finest points of how the agreement was implemented, according to an account. A source near the negotiations described the forging of “settlements and logistical support” on how the hostages will be released in Gaza and on the moves to leave Israeli troops. On January 12, a senior Palestinian official who knows the negotiations said that “all officials are here in the same building,” adding: “Tonight is decisive. We are only a few steps away from a deal.” This meeting lasted six hours – but, like so many times before, it reached a dead end. This time the resulting dispute concerned the return mechanism of the displaced people from southern Gaza to the north. Israel wanted to investigate the returnees and their vehicles to ensure that no fighters or military equipment were carried – something Hamas refused to accept. The ombudsmen suggested that Qatar and Egypt’s technical teams conduct the investigations. Both sides agreed and one of the remaining dead ends was resolved. On January 15, shortly after 18:00, a Hamas negotiator wrote in a message to the BBC: “Everything is over.” An agreement that once seemed impossible had been formed. Sources: CNN, BBC
How the Israel and Hamas agreement on Gaza was sealed – The 10 minutes that made history
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