Israel-Hamas ceasefire live updates: US and Qatar announce deal

Implementation of the agreement could begin on Sunday, when the first group of hostages could be freed, according to a senior US official involved in the negotiations.

Negotiations intensified over the past four days, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, had joined Biden’s Mideast adviser, Brett McGurk, in Doha for talks in recent days. The official described McGurk and Witkoff’s coordination as a fruitful partnership.

The American, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, along with Israel’s team nearby, worked until the wee hours of Wednesday morning, just one floor above where the Hamas negotiators were also at work, the senior official said.

Later Wednesday, Hamas made several last-second demands, but “we were very firm” and Hamas eventually agreed to the terms of the deal, the US official said.