According to Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas's leadership who is based in Beirut, the group has proposed a five-day cease-fire in exchange for the release of all foreign civilians who were among more than 220 Israelis and foreign nationals captured in its attack on Israeli targets on 7 October.

According to various reports in the media, Hamas has demanded the release of all Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, the opening of the Rafah border crossing to allow wounded Palestinian civilians to receive care in Egypt, and the entry of all essential humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Diplomatic sources were quoted in various reports indicating that "significant progress" in the talks was reached but some sticking issues remain unresolved.

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Iran are playing a crucial role in facilitating the negotiations, according to various reports in CNN, Al-Qahera News, and the Washington Post.

Hamas officials met with top Iranian diplomats in Moscow to discuss prospects for a ceasefire and agreements to ensure humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Qatari mediation was made possible by the fact that several top Hamas officials, including the head of the group's political bureau, Ismail Haniya, are currently in Doha. 

More than 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including children, women, and the elderly, have been languishing in Israeli jails for years and some for decades.

These prisoners have endured harsh conditions, limited access to essential services, and outright torture recently.

Hamas has said that one of the goals of its attack on Israeli targets on 7 October is the release of Palestinian political prisoners.

Meanwhile, on the other side, families of Israelis who were captured by Hamas have been increasing the pressure on the government of Netanyahu to prioritize efforts to release their loved ones.

Similarly, various countries that have nationals in Hamas captivity have called on the group to release their citizens. 

Last week, Hamas said Israeli strikes have killed more than two dozen captives.

Meanwhile, as the negotiations over prisoner swap continue, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and various international aid organizations continue to warn that 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are facing near starvation levels as Israel continues to block all food, water, and fuel to the strip.

As progress on a prisoner swap was being reported on, Israel launched unprecedented airstrikes everywhere in the Gaza Strip on Friday evening, casting a shadow over the future of a humanitarian truce or any deal in the short term.

On a broader level, the United States, which has unconditionally supported the Israeli war in Gaza, continues to insist that Hamas must release all hostages without conditions.

In the European Union, after attending an EU summit in Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron, who also supports Israel's "right to defend itself" and describes Hamas as a terrorist organization that must release all hostages, said on Friday that Paris is advocating for a "humanitarian truce" to allow aid to enter Gaza in order to meet civilian needs.

Macron stressed that France is exerting efforts to ensure the safe evacuation of French nationals from Gaza.

However, Egypt has insisted that any exit of any foreign national in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing must be part of a broader agreement to open the crossing to all humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In the United Nations, on Wednesday, a US draft resolution on the conflict failed at the Security Council after a Russia and China veto because it did not call for a ceasefire.

A day earlier, a Russian attempt, supported by China and the UAE, to bring a resolution to the floor that called for an immediate ceasefire was shot down by a US-UK veto.