US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

After the meeting, Netanyahu sent a high-level delegation that included the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar to "advance" talks to return the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach an agreement in Gaza.

Mediators are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to stop the fighting in the Strip and release the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Trump takes office on January 20. The deal would also include the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The families of the Israeli hostages welcomed Netanyahu's decision to send the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum describing it as a "historic opportunity."

Witkov arrived in Doha on Friday and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Egyptian security sources said that Egyptian and Qatari mediators received assurances from Witkoff that the United States would continue to work towards reaching a fair agreement to end the war soon, although he did not provide any details.

Israel launched its offensive on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed its border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the blockaded territory destroyed and a humanitarian crisis looming, with most of its population displaced.

Eight people, including two women and two children, were killed in an Israeli air strike on a former school housing displaced families in Jabalia, northern Gaza, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Authority said on Saturday. The Israeli military said the strike targeted Hamas militants working in the school and that it took measures to minimize the risk of harm to civilians.