White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that efforts are underway to achieve a new hostage release deal, telling reporters that this is the reason why Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden's special envoy, arrived in Doha, Qatar.
"What I can tell you is we're working on this very diligently. Don't want to get ahead of where we are, but we're having very fairly serious and intensive discussions in Qatar about the possibility of another deal," said Kirby.
"We're hopeful it can bear fruit and bear fruit soon," he added.
In recent weeks there have been reports of Qatar-mediated talks between Israel and Hamas on a new deal to release hostages. Qatar, together with Egypt, mediated the first hostage release deal in November.
One proposal which was reportedly discussed would see Hamas leaders exiled, all hostages released - albeit in stages - and the IDF withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.
Previously, it was reported that Hamas forwarded to Israel, through the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a proposal for the release of hostages which includes an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel rejected the proposal.