There was no immediate response from Israel on the status of negotiation efforts to secure the release of the estimated 240 hostages seized during Hamas's horrific assault.

The majority of the hostages are Israeli civilians, some of them young children and elderly people.

Only a handful have been released, freed by Israeli troops or their bodies recovered.

"We are close to reaching a deal on a truce," Haniyeh said, according to a statement sent by his office to AFP.

Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during cross-border raids on October 7 -- the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.

According to the Hamas government, the war has killed more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- which also participated in the attacks -- confirmed that their groups had agreed to the terms of a truce deal.

The tentative deal includes a five-day truce, comprised of a ceasefire on the ground and limits to Israeli air operations over southern Gaza.

Under the agreement, between 50 and 100 Israeli civilian and foreign hostages would be released, but no military personnel. 

In exchange, some 300 Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails, among them women and children.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden had said he believed a deal was close, as hopes grew for talks brokered by Qatar, where Hamas has a political office and which has behind-the-scenes diplomatic links with Israel.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that its president had travelled to Qatar to meet Hamas's Haniyeh.

Meanwhile, a newly formed group made up of senior officials from several Muslim countries will visit the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members and others to urge an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Tuesday.

The group was formed earlier this month at a summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh. It includes foreign ministers and representatives from Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority, as well as the OIC Secretary General.

The source said the group had started talking with the permanent UN Security Council members - the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France - with a visit to Beijing on Monday, and would also visit other countries.

"The primary goal of the contact group is for a ceasefire to be announced as soon as possible and for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza," the source said.

"As an end goal, (the group) aims to contribute to the two-state solution within the framework of internationally accepted parameters; to Palestinians living in their own country safely, with stability and prosperity," the person said.