Washington:

The United States believes Israel and Hamas have a “pretty significant opening” to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held there, a senior US official said Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinian operative group’s latest response “moves the process forward and may provide the basis for closing the deal,” while stressing it does not mean an agreement was likely in the coming days, and that “significant work” remained on implementation steps.

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