Qatar's foreign ministry tells the BBC it's cautiously optimistic about a new proposal in the Gaza ceasefire talks.
But there are conflicting reports emerging about how the talks are progressing for both Israel and Hamas in regional media.
Elsewhere, Palestinians describe returning to homes with "hardly anything left" in the devastated city of Khan Younis.
Israel says it is reducing the numbers of soldiers in southern Gaza but stresses a "significant force" will remain in the north.
The pull-out is being interpreted as tactical, rather than a sign the war may be moving closer to its end.
Khan Younis has been under Israeli bombardment for months - the city and surrounding area are largely destroyed.
One child, now living in Rafah, tells BBC News "we sleep here with our eyes open".
A security analyst has said the withdrawal of Israeli military from Khan Younis could make any ground offensive in Rafah less "contentious".
Justin Crump, chief executive of the defence and intelligence company Sibylline, told the BBC's World at One programme the withdrawal could alleviate the "pressure cooker of humanitarian problems" in Rafah.
"[The Israelis] moving away from Khan Younis and other places allows, if you like, some of the population pressure to disperse from Rafah - and will actually make Israeli operations there both less contentious and arguably easier in the coming weeks."
Israel has long warned of a planned ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, in order to rout out Hamas units it says are based there.
Crump said he believed Israel had not "given up on Rafah" and its planned offensive, with forces likely to be recuperating and mulling their next stage of operations.
