US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday seeking to push forward ceasefire talks over the Gaza war. The move follows a visit by UK and French foreign ministers on Friday.
Blinken is making his 10th trip to the region since the war began, following the United States' recent bridging proposals, which mediating countries believe would close gaps between the warring parties.
Diplomatic efforts to halt the Israel-Hamas conflict and secure a deal to return hostages held in Gaza have intensified in recent days.
British and French foreign ministers travelled to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Friday to call for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and a de-escalation of any wider conflict in the Middle East.
The visit by Britain's David Lammy and France's Stephane Sejourne came as a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was underway in Doha, an effort to end 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian enclave and bring 115 Israeli and foreign hostages home.
The talks, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, are set to continue this week in Cairo following a two-day meeting in Doha last week.
There has also been increased urgency to reach a ceasefire deal amid fears of a regional escalation. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July.
Blinken's trip
In Israel, Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister and other senior officials.
Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Saturday there was "cautious optimism" a deal could be reached and US officials have also been positive, while cautioning there was still work to be done.
However Hamas said optimistic US comments were "deceptive" and accused Netanyahu of making new conditions in an attempt to "blow up" the negotiation.
Hamas wants a ceasefire deal to end the war, while Israel wants a temporary pause.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Qatar's Al Jazeera TV English on Saturday that Israel wants the right to come back to the fight even if they agreed to a prisoner exchange.
"They want to have the right to attack Gaza whenever they want."
The war erupted on 7 October when Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military campaign has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. Israel says it has killed 17,000 Hamas fighters.
After Israel, Blinken will continue onto Egypt.
Increased violence
Ten months after the war began, Palestinians in Gaza are living in constant desperation to find a safe place.
"There is nothing left to us but the sea," said Tamer Al-Burai, who lives in Deir Al-Balah with several extended family members.
"We are tired of displacement. People are being pushed into narrow areas in Deir Al-Balah and Al-Mawasi, which have become pressure cookers," Burai told Reuters via a chat app, adding that tanks were just 1.5 km away.
On Friday, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of areas north of Khan Yunis and east of Deir Al-Balah where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting had been sheltering in dire conditions.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday's orders, which included other enclaves outside the humanitarian zones, had reduced the size of the "humanitarian area" designated as safe by Israeli forces to about 11 percent of the total area of the Gaza Strip.
(with Reuters)
