A US State Department official said on Friday that the United States hopes that a new agreement between Israel and Hamas to release hostages held by the movement will create space for talks to achieve a more permanent regional peace agreement, including an independent Palestinian state, presenting a long-term vision while its negotiators make shuttle tours in the region.

The official said that while no agreement is imminent, there are "many promising signs" that it is close.

CIA Director William Burns, who helped reach a previous agreement to release Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, is scheduled to join new talks on the hostage deal in the coming days.

This follows efforts by White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk to release nearly all of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a ceasefire that could last for at least two months.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently spoke with McGurk and Burns about the talks, said the senior State Department official, who requested anonymity while discussing private talks.

The ideal outcome would be a ceasefire to open the way for talks on the issues raised by Blinken during his recent trip to the Middle East, which include normalization talks between Israel and other countries in the region, as well as a multinational plan to settle the conflict, and the reconstruction of Gaza after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza.

Negotiators between Hamas and Israel have put forward a detailed proposal to both sides for a permanent ceasefire, (according to two people familiar with the talks), although there are many obstacles. The proposal was sent to Hamas and Israel via Qatar, which mediates between the two sides with the support of the United States.

It is noteworthy that the White House said on Friday that President Joe Biden spoke with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, regarding efforts to release an estimated 100 hostages still being held by Hamas, and he also spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

US officials refused to provide general details about the talks. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday that McGurk was returning from the region after a "good set of discussions" with his regional counterparts.

“We continue to do everything we can to facilitate another hostage transaction,” Kirby said. "We should not expect any imminent developments."

Underlying the talks is a growing sense of concern within the administration about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to reject the insistence of the United States and its allies that the Palestinians obtain their own state. Netanyahu also angered Qatar after Israeli television broadcast an audio that it said said Qatar's role in the hostage talks was problematic because of its ties with Hamas.

American officials are pushing for the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank (and also ruled Gaza until Hamas expelled it in 2007), to play a major role in governing Gaza after the war, along with the idea of forming an international force to help in the security administration in the enclave for a temporary period.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of the Palestinian Authority sharing the governance of Gaza after the war, ruled out accepting an international peacekeeping force in the Strip, and insisted that only Israeli forces could guarantee his country's security.

In its weekly magazine on Saturday, the Financial Times quoted Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh as saying that the Palestinian Authority is working with American officials on a plan to manage Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas ends.

Shtayyeh said that he does not believe that Israel is capable of destroying Hamas and that his preferred solution is for Hamas to become a junior partner under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization and help build an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

“If [Hamas] is ready to reach an agreement and accept the political program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, there will be room for talk,” Shtayyeh told the newspaper. Shtayyeh also said in an interview with Bloomberg: “The Palestinians should not be divided.”

“We need to put a mechanism in place, something we are working on with the international community. There will be huge needs in terms of relief and reconstruction to heal the wounds.”