US top diplomat Antony Blinken said Monday he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the latest proposal for a long-sought Gaza truce and hostage release deal as negotiators from the Palestinian group were due in Egypt.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, and a recent flurry of diplomacy appeared to suggest a new push towards halting the fighting.
Talks "are taking place in Cairo today", said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services.
It was not clear whether the Hamas delegation had already arrived, but Qatari mediators were also in Cairo according to a source with knowledge of the talks.
A senior Hamas official said Sunday the Palestinian militant group had no "major issues" with the most recent truce plan.
Blinken -- on his seventh visit to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war -- told a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept a truce.
"Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel," Blinken said, urging the group to "decide quickly".
"I'm hopeful that they will make the right decision."
Speaking at the same meeting, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said "the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides."
While there was no "final decision" yet, Shoukry said: "We are hopeful... I hope that all will rise to the occasion."
The war has brought the besieged Gaza Strip to the brink of famine, UN........