US sees progress on two-month ceasefire in Israel's Gaza war

US negotiators are making progress on a potential agreement under which Israel would pause military operations in Gaza for two months.

Two senior administration officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said on Saturday that emerging terms of the yet-to-be sealed deal would play out over two phases.

In the first phase, fighting would stop to allow for the remaining women, elderly and wounded hostages to be released by Hamas.

Israel and Hamas would then aim to work out details during the first 30 days of the pause for a second phase in which Israeli soldiers and civilian men would be released.

The emerging deal also calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

While the proposed deal would not end the war, US officials are hopeful that such an agreement could lay the groundwork for a durable resolution to the conflict.

The New York Times first reported on Saturday that progress has been made towards an agreement for a pause in fighting in exchange for the remaining hostages.

“We should not expect any imminent developments"

CIA director Bill Burns is expected to discuss the contours of the emerging agreement when he meets on Sunday in France with David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel for talks centred on the hostage negotiations, according to three people familiar with the scheduled meeting.

President Joe Biden on Friday spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Calls with both leaders focused on the captives.

“Both leaders affirmed that a hostage deal is central to establishing a prolonged humanitarian pause in the fighting and ensure additional life-saving humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in need throughout Gaza,” the White House said in a statement about Biden's call with the Qatari leader.

“They underscored the urgency of the situation, and welcomed the close cooperation among their teams to advance recent discussions.”

Burns heads to France for the high-level talks after White House senior adviser Brett McGurk traveled to the Mideast this week for talks on the hostage situation.

If Burns sees progress in his talks in France, Biden may dispatch McGurk back to the Mideast quickly to try to complete an agreement. McGurk during his talks this week was also laying the groundwork for another trip to the region by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who next week could make his fifth trip to the Middle East since the start of the Israel's war on Gaza in October.

The White House and CIA have yet to publicly confirm Burns' meeting in France and administration officials have been guarded that a deal can quickly be brokered.

“We should not expect any imminent developments," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday.