STICKING POINTS

Mediators met last week with Israeli negotiators in Doha, and more truce talks are expected in Egypt this week.

One of the main sticking points has been Hamas’s long-standing demand for a “complete” withdrawal of Israeli troops from all parts of Gaza, which Israel has rejected.

Israeli media quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying Israel would insist on maintaining control of a strategic strip on the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi corridor.

A US official travelling with Blinken, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said that “maximalist statements like this are not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line”.

In Doha, Blinken said Washington opposes “any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel”.

Fears of a regional escalation have mounted since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond after an attack last month, blamed on Israel, killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, shortly after an Israeli strike on Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander.

Lebanon’s health ministry said four people were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday and Hezbollah claimed a string of attacks on Israeli troops, in the latest of the cross-border exchanges which have raged almost daily since the Gaza war began.