Hamas and Israel urged to resume talks on Gaza war as ceasefire deal nears
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have made joint calls for Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table as a ceasefire and hostage release deal edges closer.
The three mediating countries set August 15 as the date for the talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said they would send a negotiation team, but Hamas have yet to respond.
In a joint statement, the US, Egypt and Qatar stressed "only the details" of deal to arrange a ceasefire and release of hostages remain.
“There is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay,” it continued.
According to a senior US official, only four or five areas of disagreement over how the deal would come into place were left to be addressed - including the timings of a planned swap of Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and hostages held by Hamas.
The plea for both Israel and Hamas to attend negotiations comes as the Israeli military has ordered another mass evacuation of large areas surrounding Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Humanitarian crisis continues to unfold, with Israeli restrictions on aid and ongoing fighting limiting access to crucial medical, food and other supplies.
Gaza's Health Ministry has said the death toll in the territory is approaching 40,000.
Regional tensions are at a high-point, after several high-profile assassinations of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.
On Friday 9, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels were suspected to be behind three attacks targeting a ship in the Red Sea, including one that saw private security guards shoot and destroy a bomb-loaded drone boat.
The Houthis did not take responsibility for the incidents, but they follow a months-long campaign targeting ships off the coast of Yemen to protest over Israel's war on Hamas.
“The operations are ongoing — our operations toward occupied Palestine to target the Israeli enemy, our operations at sea, the inevitable forthcoming response," the Houthi's secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday.
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Although no group took responsibility for the attack, Israel retaliated by killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hours later, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a strike in Tehran, Iran's capital - Israel did not take responsibility for the strike, but was blamed for it by the militant group.
Hamas have since announced a new leader, Yahya Sinwar, the militant's top official in Gaza who is thought to have masterminded the October 7 attacks.
Hezbollah fired around 50 rockets from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Sunday. The attack was thwarted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system and there were no reports of casualties.
In a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes which killed civilians in two villages in the south of Lebanon.
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