US seeking to keep Israel, Hamas engaged in Gaza truce efforts

Washington said it was trying to keep Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas engaged "if only virtually" in Gaza truce efforts as a UN agency warned that humanitarian aid stocks in the devastated enclave have hit "the bottom of the barrel."

Hamas said on Friday it would consult with other militant Palestinian factions on its strategy to negotiate a halt to the war triggered by its Oct. 7 onslaught into Israel.

The United Nations warned that aid for Gaza could grind to a halt within days after Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, closing the vital route on which the enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians depends.

Talks on a ceasefire and a release of hostages held by Hamas ended in Cairo on Thursday without agreement after Israel said a proposal by Qatari and Egyptian mediators included elements that were unacceptable.

Hamas, which said it had accepted the proposal, said in a statement that Israel's "rejection ... returned things to the first square."

The White House called the end of the talks, which CIA Director William Burns was helping to mediate, "deeply regrettable," but said the US believed the differences were surmountable.

"We are working hard to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion, if only virtually," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member Friday recommending the UN Security Council reconsider the matter favorably.

Reuters