Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire and a hostage deal, the sources said

A draft deal to end fighting in Gaza and release hostages has been agreed in principle and, if all goes well, will be finalized by Israel and Hamas this week, Arab, US and Israeli officials told CBS News.

If the final details are approved, and the Israeli government also votes to ratify it soon, implementation of the deal could begin this weekend, US and regional sources said. That means President Biden has been wanted for a long time ceasefire agreement may meet in the final days of his administration, and incoming President-elect Donald Trump will oversee its implementation.

Sources tell CBS News that the parties have begun writing public statements of success and hopes are high on all sides.

Reaching an agreement to cease hostilities and release hostages

In Doha, talks have been going on for the past few weeks and were continuing on Tuesday.

Mr. Biden's top adviser on the Mideast, Brett McGurk, has been in the region for the better part of a month working to seal the deal, liaising regularly with Steve Witkoff, Trump's pick to be special envoy for the Middle East.

Witkoff is in Israel over the weekend for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Qatari prime minister is expected to meet on Tuesday with Mossad Director David Barnea to help finalize the details of the deal.

While the Biden administration is drafting a detailed plan for the so-called “Day After” Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, its implementation and implementation will be left to the Trump administration. Privately, US officials admit that this governance arrangement is aspirational, and it would be up to Trump's team to help shape the future of Palestine in Gaza and pressure the Netanyahu government and Hamas to adhere to the latest stages of the agreement.

“I think the pressure is increasing for Hamas to get to yes, and I think Israel has also achieved a lot of its military objectives in Gaza, so, it's in a position to be able to say 'yes,'” the US. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told the press.

Sullivan said Israel and Hamas have been close to a deal in the past, and things have failed, but on Monday there was a general sense that this was going in the right direction.

“The question is, can we all seize this moment and make this happen?” Sullivan said.

“We are in the advanced stages of negotiations,” an Israeli political source told CBS News, adding that a deal could be agreed in hours or days. “There is progress on all parts of the treaty formula.”

What would a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas look like?

During the week, President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone about ongoing negotiations. The White House said the two leaders discussed an agreement based on the plan outlined by Mr. Biden last year.

The agreement was presented to Israel and Hamas appears to be similar to that arrangement, according to a copy of the agreement from mediator sources seen by CBS News and a senior Israeli official.

The deal has three parts, according to a copy seen by CBS News, each of which will be negotiated as things progress.

In the first phase, which will take place during the 42-day ceasefire, Hamas will release 33 women and children who were held hostage, as well as hostages over 50 years old. For every kidnapped woman or child returned to Israel, Israel freed 30 Palestinian women and children from its prisons. Hamas will release all hostages over the age of 50, and Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners aged 50 or older.

On the first day of that moratorium, Hamas will release 3 hostages, according to a document seen by CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas will release 4 hostages. After that, Hamas would release 3 hostages taken from Israel every seven days, first with the living and then continue to return the bodies of those who have died.

During the hostage and prisoner exchange, there will be a complete ceasefire in Gaza to allow aid to flow in, said a draft seen by CBS News. International aid groups and the United Nations will resume operations in Gaza, and the rebuilding of its infrastructure, such as water, electricity and sanitation systems, will begin. There will also be discussions on the next phase of the agreement.

The second phase of the agreement will include the release of all male Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza, according to a document seen by CBS News.

The third phase, which will be discussed in part in the previous sections, will involve the exchange of bodies of hostages and prisoners, the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza, and the opening of its borders.

Despite intense mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, talks have repeatedly stalled over issues including details of abductions and prisoner exchanges, Israeli troop withdrawals and whether the ceasefire will be permanent.

Hamas and other groups in Gaza are still holding about 100 hostages taken during the Oct. 7 2023. The soldiers killed about 1,200 people in that attack and captured 250.

More than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israel when it responded on October 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 2.3 million Gazans were left homeless. Aid organizations are struggling to deliver aid and experts have warned of famine.

Marwan Al-Ghoul, Michal Ben-Gal and Mais Al-Bayaa contributed to this report.