Key mediator Egypt has expressed skepticism about the proposal meant to bridge gaps in cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas as more details emerged a day before negotiations were expected to resume in Cairo.

The challenges around the so-called bridging proposal appeared to undermine the optimism for an imminent agreement that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken carried into his latest Mideast visit this week.

President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the United States presses Israel and Hamas to agree to a "bridging proposal" that could lead to a cease-fire in the war in Gaza.

Hamas and Israel have signaled that challenges remain amid significant differences over the presence of Israeli troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza and other issues, dimming Biden's hopes that a deal can soon be reached. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is in Chicago this week to accept her party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention, also joined the call.

Israel has ordered the evacuation of a residential area near the main hospital in central Gaza.

The military on Wednesday ordered people to leave an area in Deir al-Balah that is a few hundred meters (yards) away from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one of the last functioning medical centers in the territory. The military said it would soon act against militants in the area.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed developments in the Hamas-Israel cease-fire negotiations in a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a spokesman for the ministry said Wednesday.

The conversation was held at the request of the U.S., Oncu Keceli said in a social media post. Turkey is a close supporter of Hamas and has condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide.”

A commercial ship traveling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack Wednesday, leaving the vessel "not under command" in an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the British military said.

Details remained few about the attack, though it comes during the Houthis’ monthslong campaign targeting ships over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

David Hale, the former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs and ex-ambassador to Lebanon, has said that he is not optimistic about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested after clashing with police during a protest that began outside the Israeli consulate and spilled out onto the surrounding streets on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.

The intense confrontations Tuesday with officers began minutes into the demonstration, after some protesters – many dressed in black, their faces covered – charged at a line of police that had blocked the group from marching. They eventually moved past the officers, but were penned in several times throughout the night by police in riot gear who did not allow protesters to disperse.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing any major breakthrough for a cease-fire deal, warning that "time is of the essence" even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain.

After meetings in fellow mediating countries Egypt and Qatar on Tuesday , Blinken said that because Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps with the militant group, the focus turns to doing everything possible to "get Hamas on board" and ensure both sides agree to key details on implementation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he’s "not sure there will be a deal," The Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli online newspaper quoted a father of an Israeli hostage who met Netanyahu Tuesday as saying that his impression was that Netanyahu "doesn’t believe there will be a deal."

Hamas on Tuesday condemned claims by U.S. President Joe Biden that it was backing away from a Gaza truce deal, calling his remarks a "green light" for Israel to continue the war.

The "misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire" agreement, Hamas said in a statement, calling Biden's remarks an "American green light for the Zionist extremist government to commit more crimes against defenseless civilians".