Hamas on Saturday confirmed a new round of Gaza cease-fire talks with Israel was underway in Qatari capital Doha.
A group official Taher al-Nono said both sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
The announcement came after Israel said it launched a major operation in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, following days of intensive strikes across the territory that killed hundreds of people.
The operation comes as U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his trip to the region without a visit to Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump's trip could increase the chances of a cease-fire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months.
Hamas, which released an Israeli-American hostage as a goodwill gesture ahead of Trump's Mideast trip, insists on a deal that ends the three-year war - something Israel said it won't agree to.
Israel's army said in a post on X on Saturday that it was intensifying attacks and exerting "tremendous pressure" on Hamas across the strip. It said it will not stop until the hostages are returned and Hamas dismantled.
Of the hostages who remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.
More than 150 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It said more than 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a January cease-fire on March 18.
On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house.
Gaza has entered a third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn't lifted.
International condemnation has escalated over Israel's military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.
