Hamas conveyed new ideas to Qatari mediators in an attempt to reach a cease-fire deal with Israel to end the ongoing massacres in Gaza on Wednesday.
Israel confirmed that it was "evaluating" Hamas "comments" on a deal to free its hostages in the Palestinian territory and would reply.
With the death toll mounting and conditions worsening daily for Gazans, both sides are under increased international pressure to agree a cease-fire.
Hamas has demanded "a permanent cease-fire and complete withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Israel says there can be no halt to hostilities until Hamas releases all hostages seized during the Oct. 7 attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also repeatedly vowed that Israel's Gaza campaign will not end until Hamas's military and governing capabilities are destroyed, as Israel targets civilian infrastructure in the besieged enclave, destroying homes, hospitals, refugee camps, schools, aid convoys and more.
Qatar, working closely with the United States, has been leading mediation efforts.
"We exchanged some ideas with the mediator brothers with the aim of stopping the aggression against our Palestinian people," a Hamas statement said.
Netanyahu's office and the Mossad intelligence service confirmed the new approach almost straight away.
Bridging war gaps
"The hostages deal mediators have conveyed to the negotiating team Hamas' remarks on the outline of the hostages deal. Israel is evaluating the remarks and will convey its reply to the mediators," said an Israeli statement.
According to a source with knowledge of the talks, "the Qataris, in coordination with the United States, have been engaging with Hamas and Israel over the past weeks in an attempt to bridge the remaining gaps."
Biden said the plan he proposed on May 31 originated with Israel. It includes a six-week cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and Gaza's reconstruction.
It would be the first truce since a week-long pause in fighting in November that saw more than 100 hostages freed and Palestinians released from Israeli jails.
Israel's attacks on Gaza killed at least 37,953 people, also mostly civilians.
On top of international criticism for his war crimes, Netanyahu faces intense domestic pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages, as well as having to prepare for potential conflict with Hezbollah on the Lebanon front. He has claimed military action is the best way to put pressure on Hamas.
The New York Times this week quoted Israeli security officials as saying top generals see a truce as the best way to secure the release of remaining hostages, even if Israel's war goals are not all met.
Netanyahu rejected the report and vowed Israel would not give in to the "winds of defeatism."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed peace efforts last week in Washington with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
While there are signs of tensions between the Israeli prime minister and the U.S. president, Netanyahu is to speak to the two houses of the U.S. Congress at a session scheduled for July 24.
Top Jordanian, US diplomats discuss Gaza cease-fire
Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday discussed efforts to achieve an "immediate and permanent" cease-fire in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
This came during a phone call received by Safadi from Blinken, according to a statement from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
The two ministers discussed "efforts to achieve an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, and the negotiations being mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to conclude a hostage swap deal that would lead to halting the war on Gaza."
They also addressed the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the necessity of ensuring adequate and immediate aid delivery and ensuring its distribution throughout the territory.
The statement quoted Safadi reaffirming "the embodiment of the sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in occupied East Jerusalem, along the lines of June 1967, to live in security and peace alongside Israel based on the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)."
Regarding the situation in the occupied West Bank, the Jordanian minister warned against Israel's continued illegitimate actions there, besieging the Palestinian economy, targeting the Palestinian National Authority and its institutions, and escalating tensions.
Flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nearly nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.