A senior US administration official said Wednesday that 90 per cent of the terms of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal have been agreed on, though critical issues related to a prisoner exchange and the Philadelphi Corridor remain unresolved, Anadolu reports.

“Ninety percent of this deal has been agreed, and it’s based on terms that even Hamas had in their own proposal,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

The official said that the deal, which has been under negotiation for months, consists of 18 paragraphs, 14 of which are “finished.”

“One paragraph has a very technical fix, and the other three paragraphs have to do with the exchange of prisoners to hostages, which even Hamas’s own text of July 2 explicitly says has to still be negotiated,” the official added.

The official emphasized that phase one of the three-phase deal has never included a “full withdrawal of Israeli forces.”

Opinion

Editorial

Missing in action
17 Mar, 2026

Missing in action

NOT exactly known for playing a proactive role in protecting the interests of Muslim nations and populations...
Risk to stability
Updated 17 Mar, 2026

Risk to stability

THE risks to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery from the US-Israel war on Iran cannot be dismissed. Yet the...
Enrolment push
17 Mar, 2026

Enrolment push

THE federal government has embarked upon the welcome initiative to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad...
Holding the line
16 Mar, 2026

Holding the line

PAKISTAN’S long battle against polio has recently produced encouraging signs. Data from the national eradication...
Power self-reliance
Updated 16 Mar, 2026

Power self-reliance

PAKISTAN’S transition to domestic sources of electricity is a welcome development for a country that has long been...
Looking for safety
16 Mar, 2026

Looking for safety

AS the Middle East conflict enters its third week, the war’s most enduring victims are not those who wage it....