US President Joe Biden on Friday asked Egyptian and Qatari leaders for help in getting Hamas to agree to a deal with Israel, an American official said, ahead of negotiations in Cairo.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held Israeli jails.

The White House said earlier on Friday that negotiations would occur over the weekend in Cairo, but would not confirm US media reports that CIA Director Bill Burns would be attending along with Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, “made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, now held by Hamas terrorists for nearly six months,” a senior Biden administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said that Biden on Friday “wrote letters to the President of Egypt and the Emir of Qatar on the state of the talks and he urged them to secure commitments from Hamas to agree to and abide by a deal.”