Negotiators were close to reaching the final details of a ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday after marathon talks in Qatar, with the U.S. and Egyptian leaders promising to stay in close contact about a deal over the coming hours.

The Biden administration is putting pressure on a deal before the inauguration, which will see President-elect Donald Trump return to the White House.

Delegation to Doha will include heads of Mossad and Shin Bet and hostage point man; Hamas sources claim ceasefire accord is 'completed' and awaiting Netanyahu's final approval The post Netanyahu dispatches top negotiators to Qatar talks amid push to seal hostage deal appeared first on The Times of Israel.

The deal, mediated by the United States, offered a glimmer of hope in a conflict that has taken an immense human toll.

Months of tedious talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza – negotiations that required officials from an outgoing and incoming presidential administration to put aside their fundamental differences – culminated in an intense late-night push for an agreement that finally came to fruition on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden and his top diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had sought closure during his term.

Rarely have representatives of current and new presidents of different parties worked together at such a high-stakes moment. But the president and the president-elect didn’t quite share credit.

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After 14 months of talks, Trump’s threats and his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, played a major role in helping Biden officials reach the finish line.

The cease-fire is set to begin on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Ceasefire talks via middlemen from Qatar, Egypt and the US had been dragging on for several months, at times without hope. Now the key players were all inside one building in Doha and the pace was frantic.