A Qatari official said the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has given "initial positive confirmation" to a proposal for a humanitarian pause in Gaza and the release of hostages, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Thursday.
U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli intelligence officials in Paris on Sunday where they proposed a six-week pause in the Gaza war and a hostage-prisoner exchange for Hamas to review.
"That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas' side," Majed al-Ansari told an audience at a Washington-based graduate school.
A Hamas source said, however, that there was still no consensus on the proposal.
"There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet... and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true," the source told AFP in Gaza.
The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said there was "still a very tough road in front of us."
"We are optimistic because both sides now agreed to the premise that would lead to a next pause," said Ansari.
"We're hopeful that in the next couple of weeks, we'll be able to share good news about that," he added.
The Qatar-based leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was expected in Cairo on Thursday or Friday for talks on a proposed truce.
Previously, Qatar mediated a one-week break in fighting that began in November and led to the release of scores of Israeli and foreign hostages, as well as aid entering the besieged Palestinian territory.
Following the deadliest attack in Israel's history, its military launched a withering air, land and sea offensive that has killed at least 27,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.
A Hamas source told AFP the three-stage plan would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting that would see more aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip.
Only "women, children and sick men over 60" held by Hamas would be freed during that stage in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
There would also be "negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces", with possible additional phases involving more hostage-prisoner exchanges, said the source, adding the territory's rebuilding was also among issues addressed by the deal.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed for the consecutive second day on Thursday global efforts to enforce a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which is currently under siege and subject to intensified attacks by Israeli forces.
According to a statement released by Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the two leaders discussed "the latest developments as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (and) the joint bilateral and Arab action" to end the Israeli war on Gaza.
They also discussed pursuing a political path that guarantees "the end of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state in accordance with international law."
Qatar has been serving as a major mediator between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas, trying to reach a new cease-fire agreement to end the devastating war on the Gaza Strip.
