Egypt says Gaza mediators 'working very hard' to revive truce plan

Egypt said Tuesday it was working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce, as part of a renewed push to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty made the announcement at a press conference in Cairo, as two Palestinian sources told AFP that a senior Hamas delegation was due to meet Egyptian officials for talks on Wednesday.

Diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal in the 22-month-old war has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July.

Abdelatty said that "we are working very hard now in full cooperation with the Qataris and Americans", aiming for "a ceasefire for 60 days, with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions".

One of the Palestinian sources earlier told AFP that the mediators were working "to formulate a new comprehensive ceasefire agreement proposal" that would include the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza "in one batch".

Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year.

The Hamas delegation expected in Cairo, led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, is scheduled to meet Egyptian officials on Wednesday to "discuss the latest developments" in negotiations, said the second Palestinian source.

News of the potential truce talks came as Gaza's civil defense agency said Israel has intensified its air strikes on Gaza City in recent days, following a government decision to expand the war there.

- Intensified strikes -

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not provided an exact timetable on when forces may enter the area, but civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said on Tuesday that air raids had already begun increasing over the past three days.

Bassal said the neighborhoods of Zeitun and Sabra have been hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes".

"For the third consecutive day, the Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment" using "bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction", he said.

Bassal said that Israeli strikes across the territory, including on Gaza City, killed at least 33 people on Tuesday.

"The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes," said Majed al-Hosary, a resident of Gaza City's Zeitun.

"There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn't stopped."

An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed five Al Jazeera employees and a freelance reporter outside a Gaza City hospital, with Israel accusing one of the slain Al Jazeera correspondents of being a Hamas militant.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the war, which was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack.

U.N.-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allowed in.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages -- 49 people including 27 the Israeli military says are dead -- as well as over his plans to expand the war.

The Israeli premier has vowed to keep on with or without the backing of Israel's allies.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,599 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable.