Negotiations are underway for three-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza with in exchange for the release of approximately 12 hostages held by Hamas, according to two officials from Egypt, one from the United Nations and one Western diplomat, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The deal will allow more aid, including limited amounts of fuel, to enter the besieged area, giving the Palestinians there a respite. Mediation is done by Catarrhthe Egypt and them United Statesaccording to the officials and the diplomat.

One of the Egyptian officials says the details of the deal were discussed this week in Cairo with the visiting CIA chief and an Israeli delegation. The official said negotiators were finalizing a draft agreement.

A senior US official said the Biden administration has not proposed a specific timetable for a halt to Israeli military operations, but suggested Israel could consider tying the length of the pause to the release of a certain number of hostages.

If agreement is eventually reached successfully on the length of the pause and the number of hostages to be released, the same formula could be revisited for additional pauses and releases, according to the official.

Netanyahu: Rumors of cease-fire without release of hostages are futile

However, in his statements yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again rejected any ceasefire in the Gaza Strip without the release of the hostages from Hamas.

“I would like to reject all sorts of vain rumors that we are hearing from various quarters, clearly repeating the following: there will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages. Everything else is futile,” Netanyahu said in a meeting with representatives of West Bank settlers.

At the same time, the Israeli prime minister warned that violence by settlers in the West Bank will not be tolerated. Underlining that the majority of settlers are law-abiding citizens, “a handful of extremists (…) are taking the law into their own hands” and “causing enormous damage to the state of Israel,” he said.