Gaza mediators intensify ceasefire efforts as Israeli strikes kill 20 more

The United States, joined by Arab mediators, sought to conclude an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt the 14-month-old war on Gaza where medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians overnight.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations said on Wednesday that mediators had narrowed gaps on most of the agreement's clauses. He said Israel had introduced conditions which Hamas rejected but would not elaborate.

On Tuesday, sources close to the talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, said an agreement could be signed in the coming days on a ceasefire and the release of captives held in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Medics said an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 people in a house in the northern town of Beit Lahia while six were killed in separate air strikes in Gaza City, Nuseirat camp in central areas, and Rafah near the border with Egypt.

In Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, medics said four people were killed in an air strike on a house. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military spokesman.

Israeli forces have operated in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia as well as the nearby Jabalia camp since October, in a campaign the military said aimed to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping.

Palestinians accuse Israel of carrying out acts of "ethnic cleansing" to depopulate the northern edge of the enclave to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they struck several Hamas members planning an imminent attack against Israeli forces operating in Jabalia.

The US administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, has made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the talks before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.

In Jerusalem, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Adam Boehler, US President-elect Donald Trump’s designated envoy for hostage affairs.

Trump has threatened that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas does not release its hostages by January 20, the day Trump returns to the White House.

CIA Director William Burns was due in Doha on Wednesday for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on bridging remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, other knowledgeable sources said. The CIA declined to comment.

Israeli negotiators were in Doha on Monday looking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas on a deal Biden outlined in May.

There have been repeated rounds of talks over the past year, all of which have failed, with Israel insisting on retaining a military presence in Gaza and Hamas refusing to release hostages until the troops pulled out.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.