The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the Zionist entity and Hamas have agreed on a “framework” for a prisoner release and truce deal and are negotiating how to implement it.

A key step was both parties agreeing to accept an  “interim governance” of Gaza by a Palestinian Authority-backed force in the second stage of the deal, the daily said in an op-ed from commentator David Ignatius.

The report cited a senior US official as saying that “the framework is agreed” and the parties are now “negotiating details of how it will be implemented.” It added that officials cautioned that although the framework is in place, a final agreement probably isn’t imminent, and it will take time to hammer out all the details.

“The stumbling block has been the transition to [Phase 2], in which Hamas would release the male soldiers who remain as hostages and both sides would agree to a ‘permanent end to hostilities’ with ‘a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,'” Ignatius wrote.

Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas resistance movement in Gaza (photo from archive). According to the writer, a key development is that both ‘Israel’ and Hamas have now “signaled their acceptance of an ‘interim governance’ plan that would begin with Phase 2, in which neither Hamas nor Israel would rule Gaza.” He said security would be provided by a US-trained force, backed by so-called “moderate Arab” countries.

The force would be drawn from a 2,500-strong group of PA supporters already vetted by the Israeli occupation, according to the WP Hamas has told mediators that it is “prepared to relinquish authority to the interim governance arrangement,” a US official told the Post.