Key mediator Qatar said Tuesday that Hamas gave a "positive" response to a truce proposal as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the region seeking an enduring end to Hamas's nearly four-month war with Israel

Hamas confirmed it delivered its response to proposals hammered out a week ago in Paris between Qatar and other mediators.

Discover the thrill of cricket like never before, exclusively on HT. Explore now!

"We have received a reply from Hamas with regards to the general framework of the agreement with regards to hostages. The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive," Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha.

Blinken, on his fifth Middle East crisis tour since the war broke out, said Hamas's reply has been "shared" with Israel and he will discuss it with Israeli leaders on Wednesday.

"We're studying it intensely... and we will be working as hard as we possibly can to try to get an agreement," Blinken said.

The war started with unprecedented Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also seized around 250 hostages. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza including 28 who are believed to have been killed.

Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel has launched air strikes and a land offensive that has killed at least 27,585 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry there.

The United Nations, rights groups and charities have deplored the "catastrophic" humanitarian situation in the Hamas-run territory.

Israel's campaign has devastated swathes of Gaza, destroyed hospitals and displaced half of its population of 2.4 million, while food, water, fuel and medicine are in dire shortage.

Heavy strikes and fighting continued on Tuesday, with the health ministry in Gaza saying at least 107 people were killed in 24 hours, including six policemen securing an aid truck.

And fear has mounted for more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the far southern city of Rafah, after Israeli warnings it was the next target of its campaign to eradicate Hamas.

The army "will reach places where we have not yet fought... right up to the last Hamas bastion, which is Rafah", Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday.

"Where will we go if they storm Rafah?," said Raed al-Bardani, 32, who has been displaced multiple times with his wife and four children and now shelters in the southern city.

visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

"There's still a lot of work to be done," Blinken said in Doha after being informed of Hamas's reply.

"But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential," he said.

The Qatari premier said he was "optimistic" but declined to discuss the Hamas reply in detail, citing the "sensitivity of the circumstances".

Last week, a Hamas source said the truce deal calls for a six-week pause to fighting as Hamas frees hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and more aid for Gaza.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas has presented "demands that we will not accept" for an exchange involving thousands of prisoners.

HT