US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that while a Gaza ceasefire remains close, it may not happen before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump.
"In the Middle East, we're very close to a ceasefire and hostage deal," Mr Blinken told reporters in Paris.
"I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have... I believe that when we get that deal - and we'll get it - it'll be on the basis of the plan that President Biden put before the world back in May.
Mr Blinken also said that more than a third of Israeli forces in Lebanon have withdrawn since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
He said that while challenges remain, the oversight mechanism put together by the United States and France to address concerns about ceasefire violations is working and functioning well.
His comments come as the Israeli military said its troops had recovered the body of a hostage in Gaza and brought it back to Israel following a "complex and difficult operation".
In a statement, the military said: "The troops located and recovered the body of hostage Youssef al-Zayadna from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip and returned his body to Israel."
Earlier, Defence Minister Israel Katz had announced that the remains of Mr Zayadna's son, Hamza, had also been brought to Israel.
The military has since clarified that the son's body had not been recovered, although "findings were located related to Hamza... which raise serious concerns for his life".
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing that troops carried out what he described as a "complex and difficult special operation" to retrieve the body.
The father's body was "brought to Israel for an identification process, after which we confirmed his identity and notified his family. We are currently investigating the circumstances of his death," he said.
The Arab Bedouin father and son were seized by Palestinian militants from Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.
Kidnapped with them were Hamza's sister and brother, who were released during a week-long truce in November 2023.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said three people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli air strike on the occupied West Bank, which the military said targeted militants.
Ahmad Assad, governor of the northern West Bank city of Tubas, told AFP that the strike hit nearby Tammun village, killing a 23-year-old man and two children, aged eight and 10, all from the same family.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the strike, accusing Israel in a statement of harming civilians "under the pretext" of fighting militants.
The Israeli military earlier said its air force "struck a terrorist cell" in the Tammun area, in a statement that made no reference to casualties.
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Mr Assad said Israeli forces, which have operated in Tammun in recent days, took the bodies of the three Palestinians killed "and officially informed us through coordination that they have" them.
The governor identified the dead as Adam Bsharat, 23, Hamza Bsharat, 10, and Reda Bsharat, eight. The foreign ministry statement gave Reda's age as nine.
According to Mr Assad, the three were killed in front of their house, which an AFP journalist later said was damaged by shrapnel impact.
By midday, hours after the strike, Israeli forces were no longer seen in Tammun, the journalist said.
This was the second Israeli air strike to hit Tammun in as many days.
Yesterday, the military said it targeted an "armed terrorist cell" that opened fire at Israeli forces who were conducting a raid in the village, killing two people.
Tammun residents told AFP that Israeli forces had taken one of the bodies.
Israeli forces carry out frequent raids on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The territory's north has been repeatedly targeted recently, with Israel saying it has been operating against militants preparing attacks.
On Monday, three Israelis were killed when gunmen opened fire on vehicles on a road in the northern West Bank, according to Israel's military and emergency services.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza broke out on 7 October, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 28 Israelis over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Red Cross urges unhindered aid access to flood-hit and freezing Gaza
Meanwhile, the Red Cross called for safe and unhindered access to Gaza to bring desperately needed aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory wracked by hunger and where babies are freezing to death.
Heavy rain and flooding have ravaged the makeshift shelters in Gaza, leaving thousands with up to 30 centimetres of water inside their damaged tents, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
The dire weather conditions were "exacerbating the unbearable conditions" in Gaza, it said, pointing out that many families were left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets".
Citing the United Nations, the IFRC highlighted the deaths of eight newborn babies who had been living in tents without warmth or protection from the rain and falling temperatures.
Those deaths "underscore the critical severity of the humanitarian crisis there", IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement.
"I urgently reiterate my call to grant safe and unhindered access to humanitarians to let them provide life-saving assistance," he said.
"Without safe access - children will freeze to death. Without safe access - families will starve. Without safe access - humanitarian workers can't save lives."
Chapagain issued an "urgent plea to all the parties... to put an end to this human suffering. Now".
The IFRC said the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was striving to provide emergency health services and supplies to people in Gaza, with an extra sense of urgency during the cold winter months.
But it warned that "the lack of aid deliveries and access is making providing adequate support all but impossible".
It also lamented the "continuing attacks on health facilities across the Gaza Strip", which it said meant people were unable to access the treatment they need.
"In the north of Gaza, there are now no functioning hospitals," it said.
The IFRC stressed that the closure of the main Rafah border crossing last May had had a dramatic impact on the humanitarian situation, warning that "only a trickle of aid is currently entering Gaza".
