Hamas's leader says the group is very close to agreeing to a truce

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, stated in a statement posted on Telegram that the group is "close to reaching a truce agreement" with Israel.

Haniyeh made his remarks following Hamas's reply to mediators in Qatar.

"“The movement delivered its response to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement,” Haniyeh said."

Haniyeh refrained from offering any more information regarding the possible arrangement.

Identical claims made by the White House are corroborated by the Hamas statement. The release of the hostages held by Hamas is "getting close to the end," according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who declined to provide specifics about the nature of a possible agreement.

“I know that everybody's interested in the numbers and who they're going to be. We're working that through literally in real time with both sides. So, I think it's better if I just don't speculate about what that pool is going to look like. Obviously, we are laser focused on the American citizens that we know are being held hostage, and we want them out, all of them, everybody should be out now,” Kirby said.