US President Joe Biden said he hopes a ceasefire in Gaza could start by the beginning of next week.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani heads to Paris on Tuesday to discuss a Gaza deal as US President Joe Biden told reporters he hopes a deal will be reached by Monday.

The Amir will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron as the two discuss the ongoing crisis in Gaza, according to a statement by Macron’s office on Monday.

The trip comes after US President Biden announced on Monday he had hoped a ceasefire in Gaza could start by the beginning of next week, adding that Israel was ready to halt operations during the Muslim month of Ramadan as part of any deal.

Asked during an election campaign trip to New York when such an agreement might start, Biden replied: “I hope by the end of the weekend.”

“My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” Biden told reporters.

Biden, 81, gave more details of what a deal could look like when he spoke on the issue in an interview with late-night US television show host Seth Meyers.

“There is a path forward, with difficulty,” he told Meyers when asked about how to end the conflict.

Qatar, the United States, and Egypt have been mediating between Hamas and Israel to stop the fighting in Gaza and release the captives held there.

The mediators have been hoping to get a deal in place before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in about two weeks.

“Ramadan’s coming up and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out,” Biden said.

Biden has previously spoken of a six-week truce.

The proposed deal also encompasses a prisoner exchange, entailing the release of numerous captives held by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

The United States has increased its diplomatic pressure on Israel to consent to a ceasefire, particularly to avert a potential Israeli offensive on Rafah.

The city in southern Gaza has become a refuge for approximately 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, who had moved there upon Israeli orders to evacuate north and central Gaza.

Biden’s comments are perceived as an appeal to voters in Michigan, where the upcoming presidential primaries have seen a pledge from many Arab- and Muslim-American voters to mark their ballots as “uncommitted” in protest of Biden’s support for Israel.

The palpable discontent in Michigan underscores the critical need for a shift in foreign policy to secure electoral success in the state.

Following discussions last week in Paris, which involved representatives from Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the US, an understanding of the ceasefire terms was reached.

The talks are expected to continue, with subsequent meetings planned in Qatar and Cairo.

Israel’s relentless and indiscriminate attacks in Gaza have killed over 29,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children.