Israeli soldiers at Sderot (Photo: AFP)

At a press conference in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday, Blinken confirmed that he had received a response from Hamas leadership and the US has carefully evaluated it with the Israeli government.

“We have received their (Hamas’) response to the proposal; we are studying it intensely. It’s been shared with the Israelis. I’ll pick up that conversation tomorrow in Israel when I’m there, and we will be working as hard as we possibly can to try to get an agreement so that we can move forward with not only a renewed but an expanded agreement on hostages and all the benefits that that would bring with it,” said Blinken

Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, also confirmed that Hamas’s response was positive but refused to go into detail because of some sensitive information. But it was unclear if either Hamas or Israel were willing to soften their initial hardline positions in order to reach an agreement on a truce.

The main content of the agreement was drafted by the intelligence leaders of the US and Israel more than a week ago at a meeting held in Paris with their Egyptian and Qatari counterparts.

Sources said the truce would last at least 40 days, during which Hamas would release civilians first, then soldiers, and finally return the bodies of hostages, in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The agreement will also increase the supply of food and other aid to people in Gaza, who are facing hunger and serious shortages of necessities.