Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks said to make ‘significant progress’ after Israeli concessions

Sources involved in the negotiations expressed their optimism about the ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel to several Israeli media outlets on Thursday.

In the evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his security cabinet to discuss the latest progress, after U.S. President Donald Trump had said he would soon have “good news” about Gaza the day before.

A source told the Times of Israel that Israel’s recent concessions over the scope of its withdrawal, coupled with Hamas’s readiness to compromise on its demand for a permanent ceasefire, probably led to Trump’s comment.

The proposal that is currently being discussed would see Hamas release 10 hostages, which is half of the hostages who Israel believes are still alive, as well as 18 bodies, in five stages over a two-month ceasefire.

Israel this week transmitted a new map of its deployment demands in Gaza during the ceasefire, reportedly agreeing to withdraw from the Morag Corridor, which runs between Rafah and Khan Younis, while limiting IDF presence to a strip of only 1 km (0.6 miles) around the perimeter of the enclave.

The IDF has already signaled its agreement to the move. Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said this week that the military would show flexibility: “If there is a deal, we will have to prepare according to the lines that will be determined by the political echelon.”

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, one mediator described Israel’s new map as “a breakthrough.”

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is set to meet with Hamas’ negotiators on Saturday, after visiting Trump in the White House on Wednesday, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.

Hamas has reportedly dropped its demand for a guaranteed permanent ceasefire as a precondition to any agreement, in exchange for Trump personally vowing that the ceasefire would hold until both sides agreed on a permanent end to the war.

The Jerusalem Post on Thursday cited informed sources who said there was “significant progress” in the talks this week.

However, they added that “at least a few more days of discussions will be needed to reach a final agreement.”

The Times of Israel said that the U.S. is threatening Hamas not to drag out the negotiations further.

Mediators told the Post that Hamas would probably respond with “minor” corrections to the proposed number of prisoners to be released, as well as the deployment map.

The concession on the Morag Corridor means that Israel will also withdraw from the area between the corridor and the border with Egypt, which had created a large buffer zone where Israel had planned to create its controversial “humanitarian city.”

It also endangers the continued work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to Axios, Israeli officials are in separate negotiations with Egypt to create yet another new mechanism for distributing aid without allowing Hamas to steal it.

The new deployment maps would see the IDF retreat from the areas in central and southern Gaza, where the GHF set up its distribution sites under an Israeli security umbrella.

Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have already come out against the latest concessions and oppose a deal under these conditions.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to “come to his senses.”

The Morag Corridor “was conquered with the blood of our fighters, and withdrawing from it would mean spitting in their face,” Ben Gvir said.

“Stop negotiating with the terrorists, and give the necessary instructions to achieve the goals of the war: complete occupation, encouragement of emigration, and settlement,” he added.