US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that an agreement on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is in the offing.

"We are now very, very close" to an agreement and "we will be able to bring some of these hostages home very soon", assured the US leader, who had already expressed his optimism about the process on Monday.

"I don't want to go into details because nothing is done until it's done," Biden added, while assuring that "things are going well at the moment".

The US President's comments are in line with statements made by some of the key players in the negotiations, including leaders from Qatar, which is playing a mediating role in the matter and which announced today that the negotiating process had entered the "final phase".

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Doha, announced in a brief message on the Telegram platform: "We are getting closer to concluding a truce agreement".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also admitted significant progress in the negotiations to free the hostages held by the Hamas group.

Two sources familiar with the process told the French news agency AFP that the deal should involve the release of 50 to 100 civilian hostages in exchange for the release of 300 women and children held by Israel.

The transfer will take place in stages, at the rate of 10 Israeli hostages for every 30 Palestinian prisoners per day, according to the same sources.