Israel-Hamas deal to release some hostages edges closer

Israel and Hamas appear to be edging towards a deal involving the release of some hostages, possibly in return for a limited ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Senior US and Israeli officials, as well as the Qatari prime minister, all suggested that an agreement was close last night, although observers have cautioned that public statements during such negotiations are often misleading and any potential deal could easily collapse.

The Qatari prime minister said that only minor differences between Hamas and Israel remained to be resolved. The Israeli ambassador to Washington said Israel hoped that a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas. “I’m hopeful we can have a deal in the coming days," Michael Herzog said in an interview on ABC yesterday.

Qatar has been at the centre of mediation efforts to reach an agreement that would lead to the release of many hostages, starting with children and women. A humanitarian pause lasting as long as five days would be agreed to allow the transport of the hostages and some supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at a joint press conference in Doha with Josep Borrell, the EU's external affairs chief, said: "The challenges facing the agreement are just practical and logistical. There has been good progress in the past few days."

He added: "The deal is going through ups and downs from time to time throughout the last few weeks. But I think that you know I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal that can bring the people safely back to their home." He gave no timetable.

The White House deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, said any agreement to free "considerably more than 12" hostages would be likely to also include an extended pause in the fighting and allow for the distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.