REUTERS, Doha

Mediators yesterday gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal to end the Israeli offensive 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.

The official said Steve Witkoff, who will become US envoy when Trump returns to the US presidency next week, attended the talks. A US source said the outgoing Biden administration’s envoy Brett McGurk was also there.

“The next 24 hours will be pivotal to reaching the deal,” the official said, characterising the draft as the outcome of a breakthrough reached in the early hours of yesterday.

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned that he would not support a deal in Gaza that halts the offensive, insisting that Israel should “open all the gates of hell” on the Palestinian territory.

Hamas said that talks over some core issues for a ceasefire deal have made progress, an official in the Palestinian group told Reuters.