A senior Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group was sending a delegation to Cairo on Saturday but that they would not attend Gaza ceasefire talks in the Egyptian capital.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have for months tried to reach a deal to end more than 10 months of war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas.

A war monitor said Israeli air strikes on Syria targeting positions of the army and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah killed three Iran-backed fighters on Friday.

Talks in Cairo on reaching a Gaza truce have made progress, the White House said Friday, as it urged Israel and Hamas to move forward.

The White House confirmed that CIA chief William Burns and senior official Brett McGurk were taking part in discussions which started at a preliminary level Thursday evening.

When Mostafa Qadoura was a week old, an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip last October launched him and his crib into the air, sent shrapnel into his right eye that damaged it beyond repair and killed one of his brothers.

Mostafa was evacuated to Egypt weeks later when the hospital treating him came under siege by the Israeli army, and he has grown into a smiling and active 10-month-old with chubby cheeks. But he still faces huge challenges.

Leaders of an "Uncommitted" movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, have been negotiating for weeks to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the Democratic National Convention this week.

The negotiations stalled late Wednesday when leaders with the Uncommitted National Movement say a Democratic National Committee official called and delivered a firm response: "The answer is no."

The Palestinians have said they are planning to introduce a U.N. General Assembly resolution in September enshrining the recent sweeping ruling by the U.N.'s top court that declared Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful — and setting a time frame for it to end.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the U.N. Security Council that the resolution, which would not be legally binding, is essential to spur the end of Israel's occupation.

A Hamas official on Friday accused Israel's prime minister of refusing to agree to a final truce accord for Gaza, where the presence of Israeli troops on the Egyptian border remained a major sticking point.

An Israeli team was in Cairo "negotiating to advance a hostage (release) agreement", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP late on Thursday.

Israeli negotiators were taking part Thursday in talks on Gaza in Cairo, a government spokesman said, as fighting raged on the ground despite U.S. pressure on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.

Hopes for a deal have dwindled though as Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have traded blame for failing to reach a deal after more than 10 months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Rights groups on Thursday expressed renewed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after Israel’s latest evacuation orders in parts of the overcrowded central city of Deir al-Balah.

The polio virus has been circulating in the battered Palestinian enclave for the first time in 25 years, relief organization the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. It said the spread resulted from the destruction of hospitals and water infrastructure, along with overcrowded living conditions.

Hopes were dwindling Thursday for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where fighting raged despite pressure from the United States on Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas to reach an agreement.

After more than 10 months of war, officials from the United States and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar had been set to meet in Cairo for a new round of talks this week, but confirmation was still pending.