Hamas asserts a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza is possible if Israel “stops setting new conditions,” according to a statement.
The statement comes after sources briefed on meetings related to the ceasefire talks told Reuters that a deal is expected to be signed in the coming days.
Israel’s defense minister has vowed that it would maintain “full freedom of action” in the Gaza Strip after fighting ends in the Palestinian enclave, a day after raising hopes that a ceasefire and hostage deal was imminent.
Israel was “closer to a ceasefire deal than we have ever been,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a closed-door parliamentary committee hearing Monday. The comment was confirmed to NBC News by an Israeli lawmaker who was present.
An agreement to halt the 14-month-old war in Gaza and free hostages held in the Palestinian enclave could be signed in coming days with talks in Cairo making progress, sources briefed on the meeting said on Tuesday.
The U.S. administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, have made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the talks before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.
“We believe – and the Israelis have said this – that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that, but we also are cautious in our optimism,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with Fox News.
“We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line.”
The sources said a ceasefire deal could be days away that would stop the fighting and return hostages held by the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.