Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, said that the movement is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel, while the attack on Gaza and the firing of rockets at Israel continue.

Haniyeh said in a statement sent by one of his aides to Reuters, “The movement has delivered its response to Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement.”

No further details were provided about the terms of the potential agreement.

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he believes an agreement is close. “We are closer now than we were before,” White House spokesman John Kirby said of the agreement, which aims to secure the release of some detainees in Gaza and declare a truce that would allow the delivery of much-needed aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hamas detained about 240 people during the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation against Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people.

The Geneva-based International Committee of the Free Cross said in a statement that Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the committee, met in Qatar on Monday with Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, “to achieve progress regarding humanitarian issues” related to the conflict. She also met separately with the Qatari authorities.

The organization said that it did not participate in the negotiations aimed at releasing the detainees. But it added that it was ready to “facilitate any future release agreed upon by both parties” as a neutral mediator.

There has been talk of an imminent deal regarding the detainees for days.

Reuters reported last week, citing an official familiar with the talks, that Qatari mediators were seeking to reach an agreement between Hamas and Israel to release 50 detainees in exchange for a three-day truce that would facilitate the arrival of emergency aid shipments to civilians in Gaza.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog said on ABC's "This Week" program on Sunday that he hopes to reach an agreement "in the coming days," while Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the points... The remaining barb is “very minor.”

It seemed earlier that an agreement was imminent.

“Delicate negotiations like this could collapse at the last minute,” White House Deputy National Security Advisor John Feiner told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

The Hamas government said that at least 13,300 Palestinians were killed, including 5,600 children and at least 3,550 women, due to ongoing Israeli bombing.