Israel's spy chief was due to travel to Qatar on Friday for cease-fire negotiations while the U.S. planned to put a resolution calling for an immediate truce in Gaza to a vote of the United Nations Security Council, intensifying pressure on its ally.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday in Cairo he believed talks mediated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt could still reach a cease-fire deal between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
Negotiations in Qatar centered on a truce of around six weeks that would allow the release of 40 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, paving the way for more aid to enter an enclave where famine looms due to extreme food shortages.