Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said on Sunday he hoped a “firm and final agreement” on a temporary Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages could be reached “in the coming days”, after progress in negotiations at the weekend.

Sullivan’s comments in an interview with CNN came as Israeli newspapers reported that the country’s war cabinet had approved a rough outline of a deal. Mediators previously hoped they were close to a breakthrough only for talks to stall because of wide gaps between the positions of Hamas and Israel, but the US is pushing hard to get an agreement.

Sullivan said negotiators from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar had come to an “understanding” on the “basic contours” of a deal in talks in Paris, though the details still needed to be worked out.