Hamas has formally responded to the proposed framework for a deal exchanging hostages remaining in Gaza for an extended cease-fire, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Tuesday during a press conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive," he said via a translator. "However, given the sensitivity of the circumstances we will not tackle details. We are optimistic and we have delivered the response to the Israeli party."

Hamas in a statement did not say they had agreed to the deal but said they "dealt with" the proposed hostage deal "with a positive spirit."

However, after receiving the response from Hamas, Israeli officials indicated a deal is still "far off," according to Israeli political sources.

While Blinken didn’t express the same level of optimism as the Qatari prime minister, he maintained that a hostage deal was within reach, saying now that they had a response from Hamas, negotiators would be "intensely focused on that."

"We’re reviewing that response now, and I’ll be discussing it with the government of Israel tomorrow,” Blinken said. "There is still a lot of work to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed, essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it."

When asked about the amount of time it took for Hamas to deliver an answer, the Qatari prime minister said "communication was presenting some challenges" and that "it took some time to get them to a place where we get that response," adding, "we are hoping to see it yielding very soon."

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

The bodies of 31 hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli sources. The 31 hostages either died while being held captive by Hamas or were killed on Oct. 7, the sources said.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss Israel's ongoing war in the neighboring Gaza Strip.

Their "meeting focused on developments in unyielding efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, exchanging detainees and providing access of needed relief aid to end the severe humanitarian catastrophe in the sector," according to a readout from Egypt’s presidency.

It's Blinken's fifth trip to the Middle East since war erupted between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been involved in negotiations between the warring sides.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced Monday that he has appointed an independent review group to determine whether the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is "doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made."

The probe comes amid Israel's allegations that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack.

"These accusations come at a time when UNRWA, the largest U.N. organization in the region, is working under extremely challenging conditions to deliver life-saving assistance to the 2 million people in the Gaza Strip who depend on it for their survival amidst one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world," Guterres said in a statement.

The independent review group will begin its work on Feb. 14 and will provide an interim report by late March. A final report is due April 2024, according to Guterres.

The probe is separate from an investigation the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight is conducting into the allegations.

UNRWA has said it is investigating the allegations and took swift action against those accused of participating in the attack. However, the United States and other top donors have suspended their funding to the agency, which is the biggest humanitarian aid provider in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman and Morgan Winsor

The Israeli military has deployed three divisions to the northern border amid Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press conference Saturday.

He said the IDF is working to “reshape the security reality” on the northern border, so that some 80,000 Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks can return to their homes.

“We do not choose war as our first option but are certainly ready, and preparing for it all the time, if need be,” Hagari said.

The IDF has struck more than 150 cells, killing some 200 terror operatives, mostly members of Hezbollah, and targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah sites since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to Hagari.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd