Qatar says Gaza truce and hostage release talks in 'final stages'

Key mediator Qatar said negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal were in their "final stages" on Jan 14, adding that it was hopeful an agreement could be reached "very soon".

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Qatar, Egypt and the US have stepped up efforts to broker a ceasefire to enable the release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

On Jan 13, US President Joe Biden said a deal was "on the brink" of being finalized, just days before the inauguration of his successor, Donald Trump.

On Jan 14, Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said the negotiations were in their "final stages".

"We do believe that we are at the final stages... Certainly, we are hopeful that this would lead very soon to an agreement," he said.

"Until there is an announcement... we shouldn't be overexcited about what's happening right now.

"We have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed," he told a news conference.

Hamas' Oct 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

On that day, militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,645 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the UN considers reliable.