After Biden said a cease-fire deal could be reached soon, Palestinian militant group Hamas quickly released a statement dashing the claim.
“Promoting the Paris draft agreement is a propaganda situation that does not reach what we want,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said.
A Qatari official also told Reuters that a deal was not imminent, though he expressed confidence one could be reached soon.
Negotiators for Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the U.S. recently met in Paris to discuss a framework for another deal following a November temporary truce that saw the exchange of hostages and prisoners.
The latest deal includes a 40-day truce in exchange for 40 hostages held by Hamas and the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, according to Reuters.
Israel and Hamas remain far apart on a new agreement.
Hamas demands an end to the war, and Israeli officials say that is a nonstarter as they vow to destroy Hamas for killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapping another 240, about 100 of whom are still expected to be alive in Gaza.
Nearly 30,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began in October, and Israel is vowing to invade the southern city of Rafah next by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 10.
In Rafah, more than a million Palestinian civilians are sheltering from the war.
Biden said Monday he was hopeful a deal could be made within a week and also suggested Israel was willing to halt the Rafah attack if an agreement is reached.
If Israel proceeds in Rafah, Biden said forces would only do so with a strong plan to evacuate civilians.
“They have made a commitment to me that they’re going to see to it that there’s an ability to evacuate significant portions of Rafah before they go and take out the remainder Hamas,” Biden said.
Read the full coverage at TheHill.com.
