(14 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv, Israel – 14 January 2025
++STARTS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Mednick, The Associated Press:
"We’re in Tel Aviv where a few hundred protesters behind you have basically shut down the street. This bus beside me, can’t move. They are all chanting and saying that the hostages need to come home now. These are families and supporters of the hostages. They are anxiously waiting for news of this ceasefire that is said to be extremely close, yet still not secure. The families say that this wait is agonizing. They are chanting, they’re saying: ‘hostages need to come home now’, they’re holding signs saying ‘why are they still in there?’. People that I spoke to tonight just said that the time is now, it can’t wait any longer. And they hope that this deal comes to fruition immediately."
STORYLINE:
Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Tuesday night held a demonstration, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas looked to be close.
Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.
Mediators the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity.
An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end to the war and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it.
Nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third are dead.
Any deal is expected to pause the fighting and bring hopes for winding down the most deadly and destructive war Israel and Hamas have ever fought, a conflict that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
It would bring relief to the hard-hit Gaza Strip, where Israel’s offensive has reduced large areas to rubble and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million, many at risk of famine.
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