Agencies: Steve Whitkoff, the US President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, said today, Wednesday, that the negotiations aiming to reach a truce between Israel and the “Hamas” movement in the Gaza Strip “are going well,” amid indications of tangible progress in the ongoing talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Channel 13 Israeli quoted a senior Israeli official present in Qatar as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government showed new flexibility and agreed to a wider withdrawal plan from the sector as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement.

According to Israeli sources, the new withdrawal plan will be implemented in phases during a sixty-day truce, with its first phase including a gradual withdrawal from the northern sector, followed by a tangible withdrawal from specific areas in southern Gaza, including Rafah.

Despite this progress, the channel indicated that Netanyahu still refuses to end the war completely after the truce period ends, leaving the fate of the final settlement pending additional negotiation rounds.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that the negotiators in Doha are currently working on “modifying the maps” related to the areas where Israeli forces will remain during the truce period, while the mediators' efforts focus on securing the release of 28 Israeli detainees held by “Hamas” over the sixty days.

This development comes at a time when regional and international mediators continue to push the parties towards an agreement that achieves field calm and alleviates the humanitarian suffering in the sector, with ongoing international pressure to stop the fighting and make way for relief and reconstruction efforts.