Representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Russia’s capital city on Thursday to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Fatah, the largest political party within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the dominating force behind the Palestinian Authority (PA), currently only controls the West Bank after being forced out of Gaza amid violent clashes with Hamas when the Palestinian militant group and political organization won legislative elections in 2007. Hamas, designated a terrorist group by several countries including the United States, is not part of the PLO and rejects the Fatah-controlled PA's collaboration with Israeli authorities to maintain security in the West Bank.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor

After President Joe Biden said Monday he "hopes" to see a cease-fire reached by March 4, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday that Biden’s optimism stemmed from "the broad outlines of a deal" agreed to by Israel, the U.S. and other partners last week, as well as “negotiations that are continuing through this week.”

But Miller said Hamas wields significant control over when and whether a deal is reached.

"Certainly, we'd welcome getting one by this weekend," Miller said. "What I can say about the overall progress is that we made significant progress towards an agreement last week when we had officials from United States government engaging in the region. We continue to pursue further progress this week."

"We are trying to push this deal over the finish line -- we do think it's possible," Miller said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

A senior Israeli political source told ABC News on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "surprised" by President Joe Biden's remarks that he was hopeful a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could be in place "by next Monday."

Netanyahu said in a statement later on Tuesday, "Since the beginning of the war, I have been leading a political campaign whose purpose is to curb the pressures intended to end the war before its time, and on the other hand also to gain support for Israel."

"We have significant successes in this area, because today the Harvard-Harris survey is published in the United States, which shows that 82% of the American public supports Israel," he continued. "This gives us two more strength to continue the campaign until the complete victory."

-ABC News' Zoe Magee, Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is "intertwined with terror and needs to be dissolved."

"Their sole goal was to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee problem," the official said. "Their compliance with Hamas terrorism and incitement was exposed. Any prospect for peace depends on dissolving UNRWA."

The Israeli official said humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip should be provided by people "who are not associated with Hamas or UNRWA."

ABC News has reached out to UNRWA for comment.

In a dossier released in late January, the Israeli military alleged that 13 UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

UNRWA has said it is investigating the allegations and took swift action against those accused of being involved 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 Gaza.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

Hours after the U.S. Department of Defense conducted its first combined humanitarian assistance airdrop in Gaza with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, senior administration officials asserted this would be part of a sustained effort to scale up life-saving aid into Gaza and confirmed significant progress on a six-week hostage ceasefire deal currently in the hands of Hamas.

Senior administration officials said they are exploring every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza and that the Department of Defense is currently planning additional drops. However, they say their biggest obstacle is opening more avenues to get aid into Gaza, including a martine route that would deliver assistance directly by sea.

"We're looking at the land routes, we're looking at the sea route, we're looking at the air route, to really ensure that we're exploring every opportunity to get assistance in," officials said Saturday.

Officials confirmed this was the first U.S. airdrop conducted in Gaza since the war began and that U.S. and Jordanian C-130 aircraft were operated jointly out of Jordan to distribute aid.

Administration officials suggested the removal of police from the U.N. and other humanitarian convoys has exacerbated the lawlessness already prevalent in the region as gangs allegedly take and resell aid. Officials said the way to address this problem is by flooding the market with aid to discourage the commercialization of assistance.

Officials said a ceasefire is essential for the distribution of life-saving aid throughout Gaza. A deal is on the table and in the hands of Hamas, according to officials.

Senior administration officials told reporters there would be a six-week ceasefire as soon as today if Hamas agreed to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, which include the sick, elderly, and women.

When asked about the specifics of these progressions towards a ceasefire hostage deal, admin officials said they'd worked hard with the Israelis to develop a framework which the admin believes is now "in the zone of a compromise amongst all the positions that had been on the table," after several meeting in Israel last week.

Admin officials hope to have this deal in place by Ramadan, confirming significant progress has been made over the last few weeks.

"The onus right now is on Hamas, their talks still underway," a senior admin official said Saturday.

They continued, "There has been significant progress over the last few weeks. But like all things, until the deal is actually done, It's not done. The Israelis have basically signed on to the elements of the arrangement. And right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas, and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can."

-ABC News' Noah Minnie