Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas and also holds hostages in Gaza, has said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal, Reuters reports.

If successful, the phased ceasefire — capping over a year of start-and-stop talks — could halt fighting that decimated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, made most of the enclave’s population homeless and is still killing dozens a day.

That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where Israel’s Gaza offensive has fuelled conflict in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.