Israel 'making progress' on hostage deal with Hamas, PM Netanyahu says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday progress was being made on the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

"We are making progress. I don't think it's worth saying too much, not at even this moment, but I hope there will be good news soon," he told reservists, according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu did not provide further details.

His office said that "in light of developments in the matter of the release of our hostages," Netanyahu would later Tuesday convene his war cabinet, and then, the full cabinet.

Netanyahu's comments came hours after the chief of Hamas told Reuters on Tuesday that the militant group was "close to reaching a truce agreement" with Israel. Hamas has delivered its response to Qatari mediators, Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide.

A Hamas official separately told Al Jazeera TV that negotiations were centred on how long the truce would last, arrangements for delivery of aid into Gaza and the exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Both sides would free women and children and details will be announced by Qatar, which is mediating in the negotiations, said the official, Issat el Reshiq.

Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct. 7 rampage into Israel that killed 1,200 people, including several Canadians.

Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), met Haniyeh in Qatar on Monday to "advance humanitarian issues" related to the conflict, the Geneva-based ICRC said in a statement. She also met separately with Qatari authorities.

The ICRC said it was not part of negotiations aimed at releasing the hostages, but as a neutral intermediary it was ready "to facilitate any future release that the parties agree to."

Talk of an imminent hostage deal has swirled for days. Reuters reported last week that Qatari mediators were seeking a deal for Hamas and Israel to exchange 50 hostages in return for a three-day ceasefire that would boost emergency aid shipments to Gaza civilians, citing an official briefed on the talks.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials said on Monday a deal was near, but an agreement has appeared close before.

Hamas's raid on Oct. 7, the deadliest day in Israel's 75-year-old history, prompted Israel to invade the Palestinian territory.

Since then, Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,600 children and 3,550 women, by unrelenting Israeli bombardment.