A ceasefire-hostage agreement has been reached but its announcement delayed as Hamas stalled over the exact parameters of the IDF’s withdrawal from Gaza. 

Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams in Doha notified mediators on Monday that they had accepted the proposal in principle and were now finalising the agreement, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel.

Mr Netanyahu went into a meeting with top security officials late on Tuesday to discuss the deal, his office said, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “ball is now in Hamas’s court”.

A senior Hamas official told Reuters late on Tuesday that the Palestinian group had not delivered its response yet because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said that negotiations were in their “final stages” and mediators were hopeful they would lead “very soon to an agreement”.

The first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages released in exchange for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to AFP citing sources close to Hamas.