The Palestinian group Hamas and Israel reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza, which was set to take effect yesterday, with details emerging about the lengthy negotiations.
According to media reports, the ceasefire agreement was finalized just 10 minutes before the press conference began to announce the successful conclusion of the talks.
Specifically, the final details of the plan were still being discussed as the technical setup was underway for the press conference, where Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that the ceasefire had been agreed upon.
Moreover, it is notable that representatives of Hamas and Israel did not engage in direct talks or even occupy the same rooms.
In the building in Doha, Qatar’s capital, representatives of the Tel Aviv government were on one floor, while Hamas representatives were on another, with mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States (U.S.) shuttling between the delegations to convey the plan’s details.
However, the true background of the agreement, according to media reports, was not in the details hammered out on the day of the ceasefire’s announcement but in the months leading up to it, specifically in mid-December, when Hamas changed its approach.
The reason for this, according to sources, was Hamas’ “growing isolation.”
“Until then, they dictated terms rather than negotiated. They weren’t in a hurry to reach an agreement, but once they realized that ‘no one would save them,’ everything changed,” said one participant in the negotiations.
The Hezbollah ceasefire with Israel and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria significantly shifted Hamas’ stance toward the Gaza ceasefire negotiations.
A Hamas official suggested in an interview in mid-December that Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections also intensified the talks.
Specifically, he stated that Trump’s comment about “hell in the Middle East” if a ceasefire wasn’t reached before his inauguration was crucial, as it “put pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu,” the Israeli prime minister.
Additionally, the visit of Trump’s future Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Israel on January 11th was highlighted as significant.
Netanyahu’s associates informed Witkoff that the Shabbat, a period from sunset on Friday to Saturday evening during which Jews refrain from many activities, had begun and that the Israeli prime minister would not be available.
Trump’s envoy reportedly “lost his temper” and, in a sense, “forced” Netanyahu to break the Shabbat rules and meet with him.
“The message from that meeting was simple and direct – Trump wants a deal, make it happen,” said one source.
When Witkoff returned to Doha, he remained in the room where negotiations were taking place, spending time with Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk in what the two U.S. officials described as “unprecedented transitional efforts” in U.S. diplomacy.
The final 72 hours of negotiations included continuous talks over the minor details of how the agreement would be implemented, according to one report.
A source close to the negotiations described the alignment of “arrangements and logistics” for the release of hostages in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
A senior Palestinian official involved in the negotiations stated on January 12th that “all officials are in the same building.”
“This night is decisive. We’re just a few steps away from an agreement,” he added.
That meeting lasted six hours – but, as on many previous occasions, a stalemate occurred.
This time, a disagreement arose over the mechanism for the return of displaced people from southern Gaza to the north.
Israel wanted to search the returnees and their vehicles to ensure that militants or military equipment were not being transported – something Hamas refused to allow.
Mediators proposed that Qatari and Egyptian technical teams conduct the searches. Both sides agreed, resolving one of the last remaining deadlocks.
On January 15th, just after 6:00 p.m., a Hamas negotiator wrote: “It’s all done.”
