His envoys Israel took part in talks in Cairo on Thursday night, as hopes of a cease-fire agreement in the Strip dwindled Gaza.

The talks were held a week after those in Doha between the mediators (Qatar, Egypt, USA) and the heads of Mossad (espionage) and Shin Bet (counterintelligence), David Barnea and Ronen Barr, respectively.

Barnea and Barr are in Cairo, where they are “negotiating to make progress on a deal for the hostages,” Omer Dostri, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said last night. He did not specify who else is involved in the talks.

According to Israeli media, a US delegation is present.

The new negotiations take place after ninth tour of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the Middle East, which, however, did not bring any tangible result, and the Mr. Netanyahu’s telephone conversation with Joe Bidenin which the American president “underlined the urgency of finalizing an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages”.

At the talks in Doha, the US diplomacy announced that it submitted a new compromise proposal for declaring a ceasefire, the content of which is not known so far.

Mr. Blinken assured that Mr. Netanyahu accepted the proposal and demanded that Hamas do the same.

However, the Israeli authorities have not yet publicly confirmed that they approved the American proposal, while Hamas rejects it, accusing Washington of having incorporated new “Israeli conditions” into it, mainly for the “Philadelphia Corridor”.

The dimensions of views concern mainly this corridor, a narrow strip of land on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, which Israeli forces have controlled since May.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu remains adamant about keeping Israeli troops in the zone.

“The prime minister insists in principle that Israel must control the Philadelphia corridor to prevent the rearmament of Hamas that would allow it to commit the atrocities of October 7 again,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said yesterday.

Departing yesterday Wednesday from the Middle East, Mr. Blinken underlined that Washington opposes “long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel.”

Hamas claims to implement a proposal presented by US President Biden on May 31, and the movement assured that it accepts in early July. It called for a six-week ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from densely populated areas of the enclave, the release of Israeli hostages and in exchange for Palestinian prisoners; then, in a second phase, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the besieged enclave.

For the US government, declaring a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip would help prevent the risk of a Middle East conflagration, following threats by Iran and its allies to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on 31 July in Tehran, attributed to Israel by the Islamic Republic.

The Israeli army said yesterday that it found that the six bodies it recovered days ago from an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis had bullet wounds, and added that it was investigating the circumstances of their deaths.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and is designated a terrorist organization by the US and EU.

The Israeli armed forces have launched large-scale retaliatory operations that have killed at least 40,265 people, according to Hamas’ health ministry, which did not specify how many were civilians and how many were fighters. However, according to the UN, the majority of victims were women and children.

In the Gaza Strip, where the approximately 2.4 million residents are experiencing a humanitarian disaster, civil protection said five people were killed in an Israeli bombardment that hit their house in Khan Yunis (south).

Eyewitnesses also spoke of fighting between Israeli military and Palestinian fighters in the north, as well as shelling in the central part of the enclave.

After an Israeli bombardment, thick black smoke covered the Nuseirat refugee camp (center), where many residents rushed to flee, moving through the debris.

“We live in fear for our children, the shelling never stops,” Tahani Abu Sherbi, who refuses to be displaced for the umpteenth time, “despite the danger,” told AFP near Deir al-Bala.