Gaza death toll tops 40,000 as pressure for truce deal builds

Pressure built for a Gaza ceasefire to be agreed at talks set to resume Thursday in Qatar, aiming to stop the spread of a war that the Hamas-run territory's health ministry said has killed 40,000.

In a veiled warning to Iran, Hamas and Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said "no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal", the US State Department said.

In a telephone call, the two discussed "efforts to calm" regional tensions "and the importance of finalising a ceasefire in Gaza", it said.

US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have invited Israel and Hamas for negotiations focused on ending the war that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Thursday said has killed 40,005 people in the coastal territory.

The ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties, said the toll included 40 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Fallout from the conflict has drawn in Iran-aligned groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

In Beirut on Wednesday, visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said he and Lebanon's parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri agreed "there is no more time to waste and there's no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay".

Berri is an ally of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement which has exchanged near-daily fire with Israeli forces in what Hezbollah says is support for Hamas.

- 'Time is now' -

Hochstein said a deal in Gaza "would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war".

He added: "We have to take advantage of this window for diplomatic action and diplomatic solutions. That time is now."

A similar message came on Monday from France, Germany and Britain which jointly said there can be "no further delay" in reaching a Gaza truce. They urged Iran and its allies not to "further escalate" regional tensions.

CIA director William Burns was scheduled to travel to Doha for the talks, according to a US source familiar with the meeting.

Israel confirmed it would attend, though it remained unclear if Hamas planned to participate.

Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Mediation efforts have repeatedly stalled since a week-long truce in November when militants released dozens of Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

One of the Palestinians freed at that time was among two people killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian sources said.

Israel's military said a strike killed two armed militants.

Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to prolong the war for political gain.

Israeli media this week quoted Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as privately telling a parliamentary committee that a deal to release hostages still held in Gaza "is stalling... in part because of Israel".

Netanyahu's office hit back, accusing Gallant of adopting an "anti-Israel narrative" and saying Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is "the only obstacle to a hostage deal".

- Consultations -

A Hamas official said the Islamist movement was "continuing its consultations with the mediators". Instead of holding more talks, Hamas had demanded implementation of a deal US President Joe Biden laid out on May 31.

US news website Axios, citing US officials, said former president Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election, spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

The latest mediation push follows the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader and truce negotiator Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Tehran. His killing sent fears of a wider conflagration soaring.

Iran and its regional allies blamed Israel and vowed retaliation. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Western leaders have urged Tehran to avoid attacking Israel over Haniyeh's killing, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah's military commander.

A spokesman for Netanyahu told AFP that the heads of the Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet internal security service would attend the Doha talks.

Qatar was "working to ensure that there is Hamas representation as well", State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

- Bloodied children -

In Lebanon's south, the health ministry reported two people killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday. Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed, and the Israeli military said its air force had hit "Hezbollah military structures".

In Gaza, where almost the entire population is displaced and much of the territory's housing and other infrastructure is destroyed, relatively few incidents were reported on Thursday.

In the most deadly bombing, rescuers said air strikes killed five people in Gaza City.

Israel's military said troops had killed about 20 militants in Rafah, southern Gaza.

On Wednesday, dead and wounded including bloodied children arrived at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis after an Israeli strike.

"I was not pro-Hamas but now I support them and I want to fight," one grieving man shouted.