Media: Israel made concessions for truce with Hamas ins and outs

A peace deal for the Gaza Strip could be reached in the coming days, as Israel has dropped its insistence on maintaining control over several areas of the enclave, a senior Israeli official said.

Two other sources involved in the mediating efforts told The Times of Israel that a window to reach a deal within days has opened after Jerusalem agreed to significantly decrease its force presence in Gaza during the 60-day truce under discussion.

“I believe a deal is attainable,” one of the officials said in a briefing with reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity before adding: “It’s not simple. Negotiating with Hamas isn’t easy or short, and I can’t give a timeline, but it is within reach.”

The Israeli official’s comments signaled a measure of optimism amid a fresh push for a truce in Gaza that would see the return of roughly half of the Israeli hostages. US President Donald Trump was due to host and have dinner on Wednesday with the prime minister of Qatar, where negotiations are being held, in an effort to advance an agreement.

Hours before the dinner, Trump told reporters at the White House, “We have good news on Gaza,” without providing further details.

Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who was also present at the White House event, told journalists that the talks in Doha were progressing well.

At the same time, two sources told the publication that Israel agreed to drop its more maximalist demands regarding the scale of partial troop withdrawal from Gaza.

They said that under Witkoff’s pressure, Israel’s new maps no longer show IDF presence in the “Morag corridor,” which separates the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis in the south of the enclave.

Israel also agreed to reduce its presence in Rafah, where the country intends to create a controversial “humanitarian city” to relocate Gaza’s population. The plan included entry checks and restrictions on exit.

An Arab diplomat said that Israel’s updated troop withdrawal proposal would likely complicate the implementation of the “humanitarian city” plan.

According to a source involved in the negotiations, mediators are currently meeting with Hamas representatives in Doha to review Israel’s latest maps.

It was reported that these maps largely align with Hamas’s previous demand that the IDF retreat to positions held before the collapse of the previous ceasefire on March 2.

Meanwhile, Hamas indicated it is willing to compromise on Israel’s demand for a commitment to a permanent ceasefire in exchange for personal assurances from Trump that the truce will hold until a comprehensive deal is reached.

Mediators believe that thanks to Hamas’s compromise on the permanent ceasefire and Israel’s concession on troop withdrawal scale, the most difficult obstacles in the Doha talks have been overcome.

However, the Arab diplomat said the parties still need to reach agreements on mechanisms for distributing humanitarian aid, as well as on the number and identities of Palestinian prisoners to be released during the two-month truce in exchange for 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 killed Israelis.

Currently, Hamas holds 50 hostages, including the bodies of at least 28 deceased, whose deaths have been confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces.

By Khagan Isayev