Doha said intelligence officials from Egypt, Israel and the US are working to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of prisoners.

Qatar’s prime minister said “good progress” was made at a meeting between intelligence officials from Egypt, Israel and the United States over the weekend to discuss a possible deal to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and release prisoners from Palestinian groups in Gaza.

Intelligence chiefs from the three countries, which have been negotiating agreements to end hostilities since the war began on October 7, met at the weekend in the French capital Paris.

The sides discussed a possible deal that would include a phased ceasefire that would first release women and children and allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al Thani confirmed on Monday.

“We hope to pass this proposal on to Hamas and bring them to a point where they engage positively and constructively in the process,” the prime minister said during an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC, USA.

Qatar’s prime minister also said that Hamas had demanded a permanent ceasefire as a prerequisite for starting negotiations.

“I believe we have moved from this place to a place that could potentially lead to a permanent ceasefire in the future,” he said.

Al Thani said the talks were “at a much better level than they were a few weeks ago.”

About 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 after the group’s fighters launched a surprise attack from Gaza on southern Israel that Israel said killed at least 1,139 people.

According to Palestinian health officials, Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and ground invasion in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 26,600 people.

Qatar and the United States negotiated an earlier week-long ceasefire in late November, in return for which more than 100 prisoners held by Palestinian groups in Gaza and more than 200 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were released.

Since then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under increasing pressure on several fronts: prisoners’ families are demanding a deal to secure the return of their loved ones, while members of his far-right ruling coalition are pushing for an escalation of the terrorism war, and has the United States as its main ally Israel criticized for war Number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Netanyahu rejected a Hamas proposal to end the war and the release of prisoners in return for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the release of prisoners and the armed group’s acceptance of leadership of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli prime minister said that accepting Hamas’s terms would mean the armed group would remain “intact” and that Israel’s soldiers had “fallen in vain.” He has often said that only a maximum pressure campaign would persuade the group to release all prisoners.

The Qatari prime minister noted that his country is not a “superpower that can impose something on one party,” in response to previous claims by Netanyahu that Qatar had failed to use its influence to pressure Hamas.

Doha houses Hamas’s political office and is the primary residence of senior political official Ismail Haniyeh.

“We use our good services to make contacts, close gaps and find alternatives. And this path worked,” he said, referring to previous Qatar-brokered negotiations.