US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that some of the "numerous" changes proposed by Hamas in the US-backed cease-fire plan were "workable" and others not.
Without specifying which changes he was talking about, Blinked said that the US and other mediators will keep trying to "close this deal".
Blinken was present in Qatar to press on a cease-fire proposal with global support that has not yet been fully welcomed by neither Hamas nor Israel. The Palestinian group on Tuesday submitted its request for "amendments" to the deal.
The US leader, who is on his eighth Middle East crisis tour since the war broke out, said that Hamas' reply had been "shared" with Israel.
US' remarks came after a massive barrage of rockets was fired into northern Israel by Lebanon's Hezbollah to avenge the killing of one of its top commander. The attack further escalated tensions between the regions.
An ally of Hamas, Hezbollah has also been exchanging fires with Israel nearly every day since the beginning of the now eight-month-long war on Gaza, saying that it will only stop when there's a truce in the region.
As the 160 projectiles were being fired from southern Lebanon, air raid sirens were sounded across northern Israel, making this to be one of the largest attacks since the start of the war.
WHAT AMENDMENTS DID HAMAS ASK FOR?
When US President Joe Biden proposed a three-phase plan for Gaza ceasefire, Hamas had said that it "views positively what was included" in Biden's speech.
The militant group's spokesperson Jihad Taha said that the "amendments" requested by the, included guarantees of a permanent cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, Lebanese news outlet ElNashra cited.
Hamas' official response to the proposal, which it conveyed to the mediators was though not an outright accepts, managed to keep the negotiations alive.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani earlier on Wednesday said that Hamas gave a "positive" response to a truce proposal with Israel.
He noted that there were "some comments" included in the group's response but "in general it is positive".
Notably, the proposal has raised hopes of getting an end to this conflict in which Israel's offensive in Gaza have killed over 37,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry.
While some 80 per cent of the 2.3 million population have been driven out of their homes, forced to flee the region amid the bombardments.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,160 people. They also took over 250 hostages, of which Israel said that 28 are believed to have been killed.
Since then, in a bid to destroy Hamas completely, Israel has launched air strikes and ground offensives, killing hundreds of thousands of Gazans, mostly women and children.
The United Nations on Tuesday passed another resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The resolution, backed by the US, calls for a prolonged ceasefire, ultimately leading to the end of Israel's assault on the Palestinian territory.
(With AP inputs)
