A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks involving Qatar, Egypt, the United States and Israel got underway on Thursday in the Qatari capital Doha, without Hamas representatives in attendance.

Israel's delegation includes Chief of the Mossad spy agency David Barnea, Shin Bet security service chief Ronen Bar, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) representative Nitzan Alon.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk are representing Washington in Doha.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel also joined the talks.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that mediators from Qatar and Egypt would coordinate with Hamas.

Calling the resumption of ceasefire talks a promising start, Kirby said he didn't expect an agreement to be reached immediately as there would be more to say over the course of the day and into Friday as things move forward.

He said the framework of the agreement has largely been agreed to by the parties and the remaining gaps are in the "execution of the deal."

He declined to specify the individual areas of disagreement that remain.

The spokesman said the remaining obstacles can be overcome, and the parties must bring this process to a close to reach an agreement and lower tensions in the region.