In a speech touting his foreign policy legacy, President Joe Biden on Monday said the U.S. was "pressing hard" to close a deal that would see some of the hostages held by Hamas freed in exchange for a period of peace in Gaza.

U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators shuttled between the Israeli and Hamas delegations in Doha on Tuesday, where officials said a deal to halt the war is near.

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war.