A war monitor said two people were killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a vehicle belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah group in the Damascus countryside near the Lebanese border.

Hezbollah has traded almost daily cross-border fire from Lebanon with the Israeli army since October in support of Palestinian ally Hamas, with Israel targeting operatives from the group in both Lebanon and neighboring Syria.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators are cajoling Israel and Hamas towards negotiations on a plan to end their war, which has left tens of thousands dead.

U.S. President Joe Biden first outlined in late May what he called an Israeli initiative for a truce and hostage release deal. Mediators are now embroiled in secret contacts with both sides, who have launched diplomatic barbs ahead of this week's talks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met CIA director William Burns Tuesday in Cairo, where US and Israeli delegations discussed efforts for a Gaza truce.

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, the latest assault by the group on the crucial maritime trade route.

The captain of the ship reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel off the coast of Nishtun, Yemen, close to the country's border with Oman, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship, whose name and flag were not released, and all crew are safe, the UKMTO said in a warning to mariners.

On his key chain, Hassan Nofal keeps the keys to two homes. One is to the house of his grandparents in what is now southern Israel, which his family was driven out of by Israeli forces in 1948 and to which they've never been able to return.

The other is to Nofal's house in northern Gaza that he had to flee last year after Israel launched its campaign of bombardment and offensives in the territory.

Hamas has warned that Israel’s expanding military operations in Gaza City and the displacement of thousands of residents could have “disastrous repercussions” for talks aimed at a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages.

The militant group said in a statement Monday that its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh warned mediators of the “collapse” of the negotiations, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army would bear “full responsibility.”

The Syrian defense ministry said an Israeli strike caused damage but no casualties near the Mediterranean coastal city of Baniyas on Tuesday.

"At approximately 12:20 am (2120 GMT)... the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea... targeting a site near the city of Baniyas," the defense ministry said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on all sides to exercise "caution" on the border between Israel and Lebanon, in his first telephone conversation since he was elected with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Several officials in the Middle East and the U.S. believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a cease-fire agreement.

Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any cease-fire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.

A Hamas official said the Palestinian group is ready to discuss a hostage release deal with Israel even without a "complete" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The apparent easing of Hamas' position comes as long-stalled diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release have gathered pace with a new proposal and meetings hosted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.