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

Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with US President Joe Biden about the progress in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal. “The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations to release our hostages and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team to Doha in order to advance the release of our hostages,

President-elect Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Saturday to push for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Israeli officials said. Why it matters: Witkoff's traveled to Israel from Qatar as part of a last-minute effort by Trump to press all parties involved in the negotiations to conclude the deal before Jan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Saturday afternoon with President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, in what was described as a “surprise visit” to discuss the multilateral negotiations with Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.

President-elect Donald Trump warned that if the hostages whom Hamas is still holding in Gaza are not released by his inauguration on January 20, “all hell will break out in the Middle East” – offering one more stark indication of how much the incoming president would prefer to avoid inheriting the Israel-Hamas war as he prepares to take office in less than two weeks.