Negotiators developed a written draft agreement merging the proposals offered by Israel and Hamas to release over 100 detainees in the Gaza Strip, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper stated that the written draft agreement will form a framework for discussion at the Paris meeting and that it may lead to the conclusion of an actual agreement within the next two weeks, which will shift the conflict.
NYT reported that negotiators were "cautiously optimistic" that a final accord was within reach, noting that there were still important disagreements to be worked out, according to the US officials who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive talks.
Earlier today, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Hamas movement is taking a tough stance in negotiations to exchange prisoners and detainees with Israel.
According to the unnamed Israeli officials, until now, there are no conditions that allow the resumption of negotiations, but they hoped the Paris meeting would yield results.
The expected meeting in Paris will include heads of the US, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel intelligence services, including heads of Mossad Dadi Barnea and Shin Bet Ronen Bar.
The meeting would focus on breaking the deadlock in the negotiations and creating a framework for a prisoners and detainees exchange deal between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Hamas is insisting not only that Israel completely stop fighting but also that it pulls its forces out of Gaza, whereas Israel sees ending its offensive as a "red line."
Sources said Egypt and Qatar need to be "more creative" in resolving the issues rather than just acting as a conduit to pass information between the various parties.
Furthermore, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that US and Israeli officials said as much as 80% of Hamas's vast warren of tunnels under Gaza remains intact after weeks of Israeli efforts to destroy them.
Israeli officials said that thwarting Hamas' ability to use tunnels is the keystone of Tel Aviv's efforts to arrest top Hamas leaders and rescue the remaining Israeli hostages in the Strip.
Since the start of the war, Israel has repeatedly said that it launched strikes on hospitals and other major infrastructure in the Strip in its pursuit of the tunnels.
Israel sought various methods to clear the tunnels, including installing pumps to flood them with water from the Mediterranean, destroying them with airstrikes and liquid explosives, searching them with dogs and robots, destroying their entrances, and raiding them with highly trained soldiers.
According to Tel Aviv, destroying the tunnels would deny Hamas "relatively safe" storage places for weapons and ammunition, hideouts for fighters, and centers for the movement's leadership.
The Wall Street Journal indicated that US and Israeli officials have had difficulty assessing the level of destruction of the tunnels, partly because they can't say how many miles of tunnels exist.
The officials from both countries estimate 20% to 40% of the tunnels have been damaged or rendered inoperable, US officials said, much of that in northern Gaza.
The Israeli bombing of the tunnels caused widespread destruction to the buildings on the surface of the ground.
Late last year, Israel launched the Sea of Atlantis and installed a series of pumps to flood the tunnels, despite concerns about the potential impact of pumping seawater on the Strip's freshwater supply and above-ground infrastructure.
Seawater has corroded some of the tunnels, but the overall effort wasn't as effective as Israeli officials had hoped, US officials said.
Washington says that Israel has specialized engineering units that include troops trained to destroy tunnels and not search for hostages and top Hamas leaders.
WSJ reported that Israel needs more troops are required to clear the tunnels.
Israeli officials believe that some of the hostages and Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, are in a command center in a tunnel under Khan Younis, which has been subjected to violent Israeli raids in recent days.
