MEDIATORS are making progress in talks to bring about a ceasefire in the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters, officials said today.

A truce in the fighting would also bring about an exchange of Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis and a release of hostages taken by Hamas and its allies during its attack on October 7 2023.

This follows the release of a damning new report detailing horrific examples of torture of Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis.

A ceasefire deal has still to be agreed in the talks taking place in the Qatari capital, Doha, but three officials with knowledge of the talks, but speaking on condition of anonymity, said progress was being made but warned that the coming days would be critical for securing a truce.

One of the three officials and a Hamas official said there were still a number of hurdles to clear. 

One source familiar with the talks said there had been a breakthrough overnight and that there was a proposed deal on the table. Israeli and Hamas negotiators will now take it back to their leaders for final approval, the person said.

The source said that mediators from the Gulf country of Qatar had put renewed pressure on Hamas to accept the agreement, while President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, who recently joined the talks, was reportedly pressing the Israelis to accept the deal. 

An Egyptian official said there had been good progress overnight but that it would likely take a few more days, and that the sides were aiming for a deal before Donald Trump is inaugurated as US president on January 20. 

But a Hamas official said a number of contentious issues remained unresolved, including an Israeli commitment to ending the war and details about the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the hostage-prisoner exchange. 

Meanwhile, on Sunday the Palestinian Authority’s Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society released a joint report of accounts of prisoners from Gaza held in Naqab and Nafha prisons in Israel.

The Palestinian prisoners reported examples of systematic torture, severe ill-treatment, medical neglect and beatings by the Israelis.

The report, which adds to a growing body of evidence of Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians, said inmates were experiencing long-term physical and psychological trauma as well as the spread of the highly contagious skin disease known as scabies among inmates.

Twenty-three prisoners from Gaza were visited over two days and revealed chilling details about the abuses that began soon after arrest.