The terms of a deal between Israel and Hamas on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages are being finalised, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC.
It comes after White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said a ceasefire and hostage deal could be reached “this week”.
An Israeli official also told the Reuters news agency that negotiations are at an “advanced stage” and a deal is possible in “hours, days or more.”
US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sundayand with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani from Qatar – who is mediating the negotiations – on Monday.
Sullivan said Biden also needs to speak with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
A Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas and Israeli officials held indirect talks in the same building on Monday.
Netanyahu faces fierce opposition to a potential deal within his ruling coalition.
Ten right-wing members, including some from Netanyahu’s Likud party, sent him a letter opposing the truce.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Civil Defense Agency reported that a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Monday killed more than 50 people.
“They bombed schools, homes and even gatherings of people,” civil protection spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. Separately, it said five soldiers were killed in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.
The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.
In response, Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 46,500 people have been killed during the war.
Israel says 94 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom are presumed dead, as well as four other Israelis who were abducted before the war, two of whom are dead.
