The cease-fire discussions with Israel are "serious and positive," Hamas said Tuesday, as Palestinian and Israeli delegations are in Qatar's capital Doha to reach a deal.
"Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a cease-fire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions," the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.
Hamas said the deal in Gaza was possible if Israel stops setting new conditions.
The statement comes after sources briefed on meetings related to the cease-fire talks told Reuters that a deal was expected to be signed in the coming days.
The meetings follow a trip by David Barnea, who heads Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, to the Qatari capital on Wednesday, the source said.
Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
But apart from a one-week pause in fighting late last year, during which scores of Hamas-held hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, successive negotiations have failed to halt the war.
On Monday, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz indicated Israeli negotiators have "not been this close to an agreement" for the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce.
A senior Hamas official based in Doha also said on Monday that negotiations for a deal were "closer than ever before" but warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still "disrupt the agreement as he has done every time before."
