Joe Biden said Israel and Hamas are “close” to a hostage deal in Gaza for a 40-day ceasefire to restore civilian life, and rebuilding bakeries and hospitals.

Mr Biden suggested a deal could be reached as early as next week and could be in place for Ramadan, which begins on March 10.

“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close,” Mr Biden told reporters at an ice cream parlour in New York City late on Monday.

“We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Weeks into fruitless negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, Mr Biden suggested major progress had been made in bringing about a temporary pause to fighting in Gaza where nearly 30,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its war.

A US State Department spokesman earlier reported “progress” in the talks.

Israel and Hamas have differed dramatically on key aspects of the deal: Hamas wants a full end of hostilities while Israel insists that it cannot withdraw from Gaza right now before accomplishing its goal of decimating the military capabilities of Hamas.

A draft of the deal reported by Israeli media appears to be one of the most specific of all previous proposals, mapping out concrete steps to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian disaster in the enclave.

Under the plan, bakeries and hospitals would be refurbished or rebuilt, over 500 aid trucks would enter Gaza daily and thousands of caravans will be delivered to Gaza to accommodate the displaced Palestinians.

In the first phase of the deal, both parties will stop fighting while Israel will start to release 10 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli hostage released by Hamas.

Hamas would initially free only women, children, elderly and sick.

The second phase calls on Israel to pull out its forces away from densely populated areas in Gaza.

An Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar for talks on Monday night but an unnamed Israeli official told public broadcaster Kan Radio on Tuesday they were less optimistic than Mr Biden about the prospects of a deal in the coming days.

An unnamed Hamas official told Reuters on Tuesday they were studying the proposal.

They, too, sounded more cautious on the prospects of an immediate agreement.

The official described Mr Biden’s comments as premature, saying there were “still big gaps that need to be bridged” before a deal is reached.

However, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign minister told reporters on Tuesday he was “optimistic” a deal can be reached before March 10 when Ramadan, a major holiday for Muslims, starts.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday morning the death toll from Israel’s war has now reached 29,878 people.

Hamas still holds 134 Israelis captured in the Oct 7 cross-border raid. Authorities are certain that at least 101 of them are still alive.

Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Israel of failing to comply with at least one of the legally binding measures that the International Court of Justice imposed on Israel last month as the rights group noted that despite the ruling Israel still obstructs the entry and distribution of aid in Gaza and impedes the provision of basic services.