The leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, a Palestinian political party based in the West Bank has told the BBC they believe Hamas has accepted the deal.

"The deal is almost ready and I think the Palestinian side has agreed to it, accepted it. They're waiting for the Israeli final response," Mustafa Barghouti has told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

"So we’re closer to the deal than any time before," he says, adding that is because "Netanyahu could not tolerate anymore the internal Israeli pressure and external pressure, especially coming from Trump."

When pressed by the interviewer to clarify if Hamas had agreed to the deal he said: "Yes I can say that they have accepted all the conditions, and it's not the first time... this deal is almost identical to what was proposed in July – and it was Netanyahu who undermined that.

"We've lost more than 10,000 lives in the process in six months."

As reported, both Israel and Hamas delegations are in the same building in Doha in Qatar. Hamas has said today the talks are in their "final stages" for a "clear and comprehensive agreement".

Meditators are going between the two sides - they're believed to be Qatari, Egyptian and American representatives.

• The talks are being hosted by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
• Israel is represented by David Barnea, head of its Mossad spy service and Ronen Bar, director of the Shin Bet internal security agency
• Both US Middle East incoming and outgoing envoys are also there, including Trump's pick- Steve Witkoff and Biden's envoy Brett McGurk

Experts like McTernan say it's key that both sides are in the same building – even if using mediators shuttling in-between.

It's likely that the Qatar, Egyptian and perhaps American representatives would be going back and forth between the Israeli and Hamas camps.

"They would get [Israel's] conditions and then take those next door or wherever in the building to speak to the Hamas delegation. That would be the normal way of doing it," he says.

This is a mechanism that "can in fact ensure the success, more so than we've seen in the past 14 months" – he says, because previous talks were believed to have been held when both sides were in different areas.

"There were gaps in between communications... hopefully this mechanism helps," said McTernan.

We've heard from one observers who believes the Israeli PM is going to hold off from agreeing to a deal until 20 January - the day Donald Trump is sworn in again as US President.

"It will be Netanyahu's gift to the new president," says Oliver McTernan, director of conflict resolution charity Forward Thinking. "My suspicion is Netanyahu will hold out until 19 or 20 January."

He's followed the on-and-off ceasefire talks for months now says Netanyahu had always been the biggest obstacle to getting a ceasefire these past six months.

"It was in his interests to prolong the war, to keep his main objective the demise of Hamas... because as long as the way goes on there will be no call for accountability for the security lapse on 7 October."

He adds that Biden "did not put any pressure whatsoever" on the Israeli PM to reach a deal whereas "Trump sees it in America's interest, in his own interest" to get a deal and so there is that pressure.

No guarantee deal would mean final end to warpublished at 13:17 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January

13:17 GMT 14 January

Emir Nader
Reporting from Jerusalem

A deal reached in the next hours or days might not inevitably lead to a permanent ceasefire.

Among the details that we’ve been hearing is that the initial six-week truce includes further negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.

This second stage would involve a full cessation of hostilities and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip – and these are the key sticking points that have hung over much of the negotiations, with each side pushing for opposing outcomes.

Hamas wants the truce to become permanent and will be hoping that the momentum of the first stage will build into a complete ceasefire.

In Israel, the government faces demands from hostage families to return loved ones, but as we've been hearing there are also those in Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition who want the war to continue until Hamas is "crushed" and are threatening to resign.

The prime minister himself has also previously said he wouldn't agree to an end to the war without the defeat of Hamas.

It may well be that Netanyahu can push the first stage of the ceasefire through politically – but there are no guarantees this truce will lead to a final end to the war.

Hamas has expressed "satisfaction" at the status of negotiations.

In a statement, the armed group says it hopes this round of negotiations will end with a "clear and comprehensive agreement".

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

An Israeli government official who asked to remain anonymous has said "real progress" has been made over the past few days in ceasefire negotiations, saying the talks had entered a critical and sensitive period.

“This is the only time since November 2023 that we are really negotiating with Hamas and they’re not playing a game of negotiation,” he said, with the two sides in “detailed negotiation about hundreds and thousands of details”.

But, he said, while a deal was close, “it’s not there yet”.

The official confirmed that 33 names were on the list of hostages due to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire deal, and that Israel was waiting for Hamas to confirm how many of them were still alive.

He said Israel was negotiating the “price” for nine ill and injured hostages, due to be released in that first phase.

He also said security arrangements for “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners, due to be released in exchange for the hostages, were also now being discussed, with Israel stipulating that those convicted of murder would not be released into the West Bank.

The official also outlined Israel’s security parameters during any ceasefire, including maintaining a buffer zone along Gaza’s border with Israel, monitoring of civilians returning to their homes in northern areas, and measures to stop Hamas smuggling weapons across the southern Philadelphi Strip.

He said the weakening of Hamas allies across the region, internal pressures on the group, and the involvement of both the outgoing and incoming US administrations had created “new possibilities” for a deal.

And that Israel, while it was focusing on the first stage of the proposed deal, was also keeping assets for future stages of negotiations.

“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” he said.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, there's renewed optimism of a ceasefire deal being reached between Israel and Hamas, more than 15 months after war began in Gaza.

Here's a round-up of what you need to know:

• Talks to reach a deal resumed this morning, with key mediator Qatar saying an agreement was "very close". Speaking at a news conference in Doha, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says negotiations are in their "final stages" and the major issues that had prevented a deal from happening have been "addressed"
• Our Gaza correspondent Rushdi Abualouf says there would be three phases to the deal, with three hostages released on the first day and Israel beginning to withdraw troops after that
• But Qatar warns both sides could "still get lost in the details", while an Israeli government official tells the BBC the agreement is "not there yet"
• Envoys for both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have claimed credit for the progress of the talks, but Trump's looming inauguration has brought the pressure of a meaningful deadline, Tom Bateman writes
• However, as our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams notes, it is not the first time officials have talked up the prospect of a ceasefire, even if the mood does feel different this time. "Even if the contours of a deal start to emerge soon, there are all sorts of reasons why the process could still unravel"
• And not everyone is enthusiastic at the prospect of the deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing the threats of resignation from the far-right flank of his government who have called the potential agreement a "surrender" to Hamas

While negotiations are ongoing in Doha, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 46,645 people were killed in the territory since 7 October 2023.

Image source, Reuters

As Hamas and Israel move closer to a ceasefire deal after 15 months of fighting, a number of displaced people in Deir al-Balah have voiced concern about what they might return home to find.

Speaking to BBC Arabic's Gaza Lifeline programme, a woman says she is scared to see her destroyed home. It "will be very painful because it reminds me of my father who died during the war," she says.

Another man says if a deal is reached, he will return home to search for his son's body - it is his biggest fear that he won't be able to find him.

One man says what he most fears is that when a truce is reached "that I will die at the last moment".

Image source, Family handout

A woman whose parents were taken as hostages by Hamas, with her father yet to be returned home, says she is "trying to be optimistic" about the ceasefire deal.

Sharone Lifschitz's parents, Yocheved and Oded, were kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas launched its deadly 7 October attacks.

Less than a month later, Yocheved Lifschitz, 85, was one of two women freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza, but Oded, 83, was never released.

When asked about the potential deal and a return of hostages, Sharone Lifschitz tells Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm trying to breathe. I'm trying to be optimistic, I'm trying to imagine it’s possible."

She hasn't heard news about her dad since November 2023, and says she is waiting for him.

Lifschitz, an artist and filmmaker, says she knows many of the hostages will not be alive, and that there will be "so much heartbreak".

But she adds: "I can feel the cracks of optimism coming through."

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent

Image source, EPA

The beaches of Gaza are no longer for day trips. Tens of thousands of people now have to live on the coastline, forced to leave their homes during the war.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is now displaced and nine in 10 of those living in shelters are in tents, the UN says.

As the temperatures plummet in winter, many people have been falling sick. There have been floods of rainwater and sewage.

While the situation is worst in the north, UN officials are warning of dire shortages of medicines, food, shelter and fuel across Gaza, describing the situation as “catastrophic".

There are long queues for charity handouts in parts of central and southern Gaza where most people are living.

“When it rains on us, we’re drenched,” says Khan Younis resident Salwa Abu Nimer, crying.

“No flour, no food, no drink, no shelter,” she went on. “What is this life I’m living? I go to the ends of the earth just to feed my children.”

Deal seems closer than ever, but process could still unravelpublished at 11:14 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January

11:14 GMT 14 January

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

A deal to end the war in Gaza seems closer than ever.

“The underlying issues have been ironed out, which is a very positive sign,” Majed al-Ansari, spokesman for the foreign ministry of Qatar, said a short time ago.

But there was an important caveat too.

“This does not necessarily mean that the deal is a reality.”

It feels like we’ve been here so many times before, most recently just before Christmas.

So it would be wise to keep a degree of scepticism about the coming days. Even if the contours of a deal start to emerge soon, there are all sorts of reasons why the process could still unravel.

The two sides, al-Ansari said, “could still get lost in the details".

“The most minor detail can undermine the whole process.”

And there are so many such details. For example, one journalist asked if the return of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s body would form part of the deal.

Sinwar’s last defiant moments were filmed by an Israeli drone in mid-October. He was killed by Israeli gunfire shortly afterwards. Al-Ansari declined to answer.

But one small detail does add to the impression that a deal could be imminent. For the first time in 15 months, we’re told that negotiators from Israel and Hamas have held talks under the same roof.

They were not face to face – this has never happened – but this is as close as the two sides have been over the course of these long, tortuous negotiations. Mediators, including Qatari and US officials, are still the vital interlocutors.

A former Mossad official once described to me how delegations involved in negotiations to end previous Gaza wars would sometimes sit in buildings across the street from each other in Cairo.

Don’t expect to see any handshakes if a deal is finally done. But the latest signs of physical proximity offer a visual clue to the gradual narrowing of differences.

The total number of people killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023 has risen to 46,645, the Hamas-run health ministry has said today.

It adds that in the last day, there have been 61 further deaths after four attacks.

The ministry says "a number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads".

Al-Ansari says Qatar has a "special kind of optimism this time" around, and mediators "hope" it will become an agreement.

He says they have now passed "the biggest challenges... but it doesn't mean that we have reached the end of the negotiations".

"The most minor detail can undermine the whole process. The underlying issues have been ironed out… this doesn't mean the deal is a reality... we might be lost in the details, as was the case in the past."

And with that, the briefing has now ended.

Al-Ansari is asked what makes a ceasefire deal more likely this time around.

He says the Biden administration and incoming Trump administration have been fully involved in recent talks and are working "in tandem" to ensure a deal happens.

This has been helpful in pushing the deal forward, says Al-Ansari.

He also says major issues preventing a deal happening have been addressed in recent days.

Majed Al-Ansari, of the Qatari foreign ministry, says he cannot say there will be an announcement of a ceasefire today.

"It's very difficult" to specify a time frame, he says, but "we are as close as possible compared to any time before to reaching a ceasefire," he adds.

"We can confirm that the two drafts have been delivered to both parties," he says.

"We are very close... and optimistic about a deal." Al-Ansari adds that "we urge both sides" to sign the deal so the war can end as soon as possible.

We are currently hearing a briefing from the foreign minister of Qatar, where ceasefire negotiations are being held.

We'll bring you the key lines from the news conference.

Qatar has been a key mediator during the talks.

What seems to have changed is the Donald Trump factorpublished at 10:32 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January

10:32 GMT 14 January

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, in Jerusalem

The two sides are in the same building in Doha. The Americans, Qataris and Egyptians are shuttling between them with points, details that they are clearing up.

It does look like they are heading very much towards an agreement.

We know some things about it because the whole concept of a three-stage ceasefire has in various versions been on the table since last May.

What seems to have changed though, and made a big difference, is the Donald Trump factor.

There is a lot in the Israeli press saying that when his envoy came over here at the weekend, he essentially read Netanyahu the riot act and told him that there had to be a deal, and that he should not put obstacles in its way.

Hamas has also been putting obstacles in its way, but now both sides seem to be at a point where they are prepared to get to some kind of agreement.

The question, of course, is what happens after the deal's first stage - which will last 42 days, or six weeks - and whether or not the war might resume after that.

We only know in broad terms because there have been various leaks and things have been put out.

We don't quite know what they are going to agree.

I would also caution that because this process has been very difficult, we should not assume anything is finalised until the deal is signed and sealed, and we see the hostages are being released and Palestinian prisoners and detainees also being released.

If it does go ahead, there are basically three phases. The third is a long time in the future, involving the reconstruction of Gaza.

Emir Nader
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing the threats of resignation from the far-right flank of his government who have called the potential agreement a "surrender" to Hamas.

In a post on X this morning, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said a deal would "effectively erase the war achievements that have been gained with much blood by our fighters".

Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to stop aid, fuel and water entering Gaza and continue military operations until Hamas are fully defeated.

The minister took credit for preventing a ceasefire deal being reached "time after time" over the past year through political pressure.

Another cabinet member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called the potential deal a "catastrophe" for Israel's national security and called for occupation of Gaza until Hamas is defeated and hostages are returned.

Should the parties of these two ministers withdraw from the coalition, it would make Netanyahu’s government a minority administration and vulnerable to collapse via a vote of no confidence.

Image source, Reuters

An aid worker based near a Khan Younis hospital says she doesn't see any signs that the humanitarian situation will improve in Gaza in the coming days or weeks, even if a ceasefire is agreed.

Amande Bazarolle, from emergency medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, describes to Radio 4's Today Programme the overnight heavy shelling in Rafah and the north of Gaza, and how some of her colleagues have been too scared to open clinics due to the strikes.

The scale of need in Gaza is "enormous", she says, with makeshift tents and a lack of access to water, adding that it will take "a very long time" to reconstruct some facilities.

She says law and order has been destabilised in the area, and that looting of aid is still a problem in Gaza.

"We live to be hopeful, but...I don’t see any signs that this is going to improve," she says.