All major obstacles have been addressed and only details remain, announced mediating Qatar on Tuesday. Similar statements have been made repeatedly during the Gaza War, but now the parties are said to have come closer to an agreement than at any previous time.
The parties are said to have received a draft each, but on Wednesday, reports from various sources indicate that new demands or objections are being added.
According to a draft that the news agency AP has taken part of, the parties commit to an initial ceasefire. In a first phase, the weapons will be laid down for 42 days.
Step by step
Israeli forces are to withdraw to a narrow buffer zone at the border, and maintain control over the border with Egypt in the south, according to this proposal. They will gradually leave the so-called Netzarim corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the southern part.
Hamas is to release three people from captivity immediately after the agreement has been signed, and then seven more after a week. Step by step, a total of 33 out of around 100 captives will be released. However, there are uncertainties about how many are alive, and who. Some are also held by other Palestinian groups.
Israel is to release 30 imprisoned Palestinians for each captive released, or 50 for each living female soldier, according to the proposal.
Besides this, much more aid and supplies will be allowed into the needy population in Gaza.
Who will govern?
During the first phase, further negotiations will begin on how Gaza will be governed in the future – in a situation where the Israeli government still insists that the extensive Islamist movement Hamas must be eliminated.
The idea of phase two is more openly formulated at present: all remaining captives will be released, Israel will withdraw all forces from Gaza, and a "sustainable calm" will be achieved. There, the parties will likely continue to have very different opinions on how this can be done.
Hamas has previously demanded guarantees that the ceasefire will continue until an agreement on phase two is reached, but has had to settle for oral promises from mediating USA, Egypt, and Qatar. Israel has not given any guarantees about this.
The draft also describes a third phase, where the remains of dead captives will be handed over and a multi-year plan for rebuilding war-torn Gaza will begin.
