Israeli security and political chiefs are expected to arrive in Qatar on Sunday for high-level talks on a proposed Gaza ceasefire deal that would see the hostages freed in the final days of President Biden’s term and before Donald J. Trump takes office.

Biden administration officials they pressed for an agreement that would become part of the legacy of the outgoing president, and Mr. Trump warned that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages before it is inaugurated on January 20.

Lower-level talks have been underway in recent weeks after months of stalling.

While some progress has been made, disagreements remain on several key points, including the timing and extent of Israel’s redeployment and withdrawal from Gaza and its willingness to ultimately end the war, according to several officials and a Palestinian familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential and they were not authorized to disclose details publicly.

Representatives of the outgoing and incoming US president have been cooperating on the issue, the Biden administration said, while Qatar and Egypt mediate between Israel and Hamas.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Saturday. On Friday, Mr. Witkoff was in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani for talks focused on efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office announced late Saturday that he had discussed the issue with Israeli security chiefs and negotiators from the outgoing and incoming US administrations. He also instructed Israel’s top negotiators – including David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency – to go to Qatar with the aim of reaching a deal, Netanyahu’s office said.

Disagreements between Israel and Hamas remain over the fundamental question of the truce’s durability, with Mr Netanyahu still reluctant to declare an end to the war as part the three-phase agreement outlined by Mr. Biden last May.

Israel is insisting on a vaguer formula that leaves room for ambiguity, according to a Palestinian familiar with the matter and two Israeli officials. Another official familiar with the matter said the Americans should have given mediators assurances that the United States would work to end the war, although Israel has not agreed to any exact wording.

Hamas is also demanding detailed maps from Israel showing where it will withdraw, but Israel has not provided them, according to officials and a Palestinian person familiar with the matter. They added that disagreements remain over the timing of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from The Philadelphia Corridora strip of land abutting Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Nearly 100 hostages taken during a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, are still in Gaza, out of approximately 250 that were taken. Israel believes at least a third of the remaining hostages are dead.

Israel and Hamas have shown signs of wanting to resolve outstanding issues, while pressure from the United States and the Israeli public is mounting. Last week, representatives of Hamas indicated that the group approved Israel’s list of 34 hostages to be released in the first phase of the deal.

But Israel said last week that it had not received any information from Hamas regarding the status of the hostages appearing on the list, which includes what it considers the most vulnerable and urgent cases – women and children, men over 50 and several sick or injured hostages.

Israel asked Hamas for a list of live hostages. Without that, Israeli officials say, there can be no agreement on how many Palestinian prisoners Israel would be willing to release in exchange for them. As of Sunday morning, Israel had not received a list of the living hostages, according to one of the officials familiar with the matter.

The body of one of the hostages whose name appeared on the list of 34 – Youssef Ziyadne, 53, an Arab citizen of Israel – was located by Israeli forces in a Gaza tunnel last week along with the remains of his son Hamza Ziyadne. who was also captured during the 2023 attack.

The Israeli army returned the remains of both men to Israel for burial.