There's an 'Understanding' on Ceasefire-Hostages Deal: US

A general agreement has been reached on the outline of an agreement for Hamas to release hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, a White House official said Sunday. Negotiators for the US, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar reached "an understanding" in Paris, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's State of the Union. "I'm not going to go into the specifics of that because it is still under negotiation in terms of hammering out the details of it," he said. A final deal could be settled in the coming days, Sullivan said.

An Israeli official said Saturday that the talks seemed to be moving ahead, but a Hamas leader told CNN on Sunday that he is "not aware" of any progress in negotiations concerning Israel and Hamas. An Israeli delegation is going to Qatar as soon as Monday for intensive talks intended to settle remaining details, per the New York Times. That move was cleared after Israel's war cabinet approved the deal's outline on Saturday night. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that Israel wants a deal to free the hostages, per the Washington Post.

Netanyahu said he also wants Hamas to abandon what he called its "crazy demands," which he said include a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and negotiations toward permanently ending the Israel-Hamas war. If a ceasefire goes into effect, he said, an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah could be "delayed somewhat," per the AP. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)