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Hello, I'm Paul Moss and on the Global News Podcast the latest as Israel and Hamas reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal ending 15 months of fighting.
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I'm Julian Marshall.
We begin with growing optimism that an agreement is close on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.
We've been here before, of course, but could this time, as ever with caveats, be different?
Mediators in Qatar are said to have given the final draft of an agreement to both Israel and Hamas after a midnight breakthrough, with both sides talking of progress.
But there's little detail of what progress means.
Sticking points in the past have included whether an initial truce would lead to a permanent ceasefire and whether the Israeli military would commit to fully withdrawing from Gaza.
Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, the Israeli Foreign minister, Gideon Sar, said Israel wanted a deal.
Progress was made.
We see some progress in the negotiations.
Israel wants a hostage deal.
Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal, and soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing.
President Biden spoke by phone to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, urging an immediate ceasefire in what is the final week of his presidency.
And speaking in the past couple of hours, he said a deal was near.
We're in the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition.
I have learned in many years of public service to never, never, never, ever give up, pressing hard to close this.