Qatar says Gaza truce mediation efforts 'ongoing'

Qatar's foreign ministry said Tuesday efforts to forge a Gaza truce were "ongoing", after several rounds of talks aimed at ending the now 11-month war ended without a breakthrough.

"The efforts are still ongoing and channels of communication remain open... the goals and visits and meetings are ongoing," ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters.

Months of behind-the-scenes negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to halt the fighting between Hamas and Israel, apart from a one-week truce beginning in late November.

Recent mediation in Doha and Cairo has been based on a framework laid out in May by U.S. President Joe Biden and a "bridging proposal" presented to the warring parties in August.

The U.S. State Department said Monday Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit Egypt this week to "discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire," his tenth trip to the region since the Gaza Strip war began on October 7.

After in-person talks last month in Egypt and Qatar broke up without a final agreement, Washington indicated that mediators were preparing to present another adapted framework for a ceasefire.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday Washington was working "expeditiously" on a new proposal.

Ansari declined to comment Tuesday on whether any further proposal had been relayed to Israel or Hamas.

"When it comes to the possibility of a deal taking place anytime soon, of course we remain hopeful at every juncture," he said.

"I can't comment on the prospects of a deal taking place right now but I can tell you that we remain hopeful and we continue with our efforts."

Hamas said its delegation met Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha last week to discuss a truce and potential hostage and prisoner exchange, again without indicating that any breakthrough had been reached.

Pressure inside Israel for a deal has intensified after authorities announced the deaths of six hostages at the start of September after their bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.

But in the face of the external calls for an agreement, both Israel and Hamas have publicly signaled deeper entrenchment in their negotiating positions.

On Tuesday Israel announced an expansion of its war aims, widening its fight against Hamas in Gaza to focus on Hezbollah along its northern border with Lebanon.

The October 7 attack by Palestinian militants on southern Israel that sparked the war allegedly resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.