Israel and Hamas have been presented with a “final” draft of a ceasefire agreement that would end the war in Gaza and free hostages.

A “breakthrough” was reached on Sunday evening in Doha following talks between Qatar’s prime minister, Israel’s intelligence chiefs and Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy.

It is thought that the coming days will be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilised the Middle East as Israeli and Hamas negotiators take the proposed deal back to their leaders for final approval.

Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal on Monday to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by envoys of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The official said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha, which included the chiefs of Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and Qatar's prime minister.

U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal hasn’t been reached yet, officials said Monday.

Four officials acknowledged that progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the talks.

Multiple intelligence and security sources at the highest levels of the U.S. and Israel confirm that authorities believe only about 20 of the 251 hostages taken alive by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, remain alive.

One U.S. government source said that 20 is the "working number" of those believed to be alive in ongoing negotiations underway in Qatar between Israel and Hamas.

The figure of 20 is approximate and includes only civilians and female Israeli soldiers taken prisoner.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given special leave Monday to delay his testimony Tuesday in his trial because of special circumstances — leading to speculation about a strike on Iran, or a hostage deal with Hamas.

Netanyahu has been testifying in his own defense in a trial whose central allegation is that he sought better media coverage from a hostile press. His testimony, thus far, has made the charges seem as spurious as critics suggested.

After the Biden administration announced a seven-nation prisoner swap that freed three Americans wrongly imprisoned in Russia but released convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov from a German prison, former President Donald Trump claimed, “I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING – and never any cash.” 

The claim that Trump gave adversaries “nothing” is false: While Trump secured the release of several hostages, there were instances in which his administration released individuals detained in the U.S. to bring an American home. 

 Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.

The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

An American captured by the Taliban a year after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021 remains a hostage, and his family is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action from President Joe Biden as his health deteriorates. 

Ryan Corbett’s wife, Anna Corbett, has been fighting for his release, appearing before Congress and on major news networks to call on Biden and lawmakers to act. Since he was taken hostage, Corbett’s family has managed to secure nine brief video calls with him, and see that his condition is worsening.

The "intensive" phase of Israel's offensive in Gaza will soon end, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday — but he signaled he would only accept a "partial" cease-fire deal that would not end the war, and that this new phase would allow a shift in focus to the simmering conflict on the country's northern border with Lebanon.