ISTANBUL

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism Thursday about ceasefire negotiations concerning the Gaza Strip, saying the parties are "closer than we've been in quite a while."

"It appears that generally the terms have been agreed to, but obviously now you need to have talks about how you implement those terms," Rubio told reporters at the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Malaysia.

He said Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, have reached an understanding through Qatari and Egyptian mediators on a 60-day ceasefire and that includes humanitarian aid resumption through international agencies.

"We're hopeful that they can move to proximity talks pretty quickly and go from there and have a ceasefire in place in the near future," he said, while acknowledging that "there is still some challenges in the way."

Rubio emphasized that implementation discussions represent the critical next phase, noting past failures at that stage.

"Now you've got to have talks about, how do you implement that? And that's where this has fallen apart in the past," he said. "We're hopeful that'll work out. We're doing everything we can. We'd like to see a ceasefire."

Rubio's comments align with US President Donald Trump's statement on Wednesday that his administration is "getting very close to a deal." Trump suggested that there was "a very good chance" of an agreement this week or next.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed similar hope Tuesday for a 60-day ceasefire agreement by the week's end.

Since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in 2023, more than 57,700 Palestinians have been killed, and over 100,000 others wounded, most of them women and children.

Israel is currently facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza, where at least 1.9 million Palestinians remain displaced and face severe shortages of food, medical supplies, and other essentials.