Mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt are scrambling to forge a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in their four-month-old war in the Gaza Strip after America's top diplomat on a Middle East mission said there was still hope for a deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw room for negotiation, and a Palestinian Hamas delegation led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya was due to travel on Thursday to Cairo for cease-fire talks with Egypt and Qatar.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' latest offer, calling it "delusional," and Hamas urged Palestinian armed factions to go on fighting.