Biden warns all sides not to 'undermine' Gaza truce push

US President Joe Biden warned all sides Friday not to undermine efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, as he said that a deal was nearing after 10 months of bloodshed.

Biden said in a statement that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was traveling to the Middle East in part "to underscore that with the comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal now in sight, no one in the region should take actions to undermine this process."

Blinken is set to leave Saturday for Israel. Biden previously has voiced frustration over a strike on July 31 in Tehran, widely suspected to have been carried out by Israel, that killed a top leader of Hamas who had been involved in ceasefire negotiations.

The United States has also been warning Iran against a threatened counterstrike on Israel, fearing all-out war in the Middle East.

Biden said Blinken will "reaffirm my iron-clad support for Israel's security" and "continue our intensive efforts to conclude this agreement."

The United States in talks that closed Friday in Doha presented a proposal to bridge gaps and begin a deal outlined in May by Biden, which would freeze fighting for an initial six weeks and lead to the release of hostages and prisoners.

Teams are hammering out details before a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo late next week. Biden said that the diplomats "will report to me regularly."

Hamas rejects 'new' truce conditions

Hamas said Friday the Palestinian group rejected "new conditions" in a Gaza ceasefire plan the United States presented after two days of talks with Israeli negotiators in Qatar.

As international pressure mounted for a ceasefire after more than 10 months of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Washington has joined its European allies in pushing for a swift ceasefire in Gaza since the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attack in Iran blamed on Israel prompted threats of retaliation and fears of a wider Middle East war.

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators have been seeking to finalise details of a framework initially outlined by Biden in May, and which he said Israel had proposed.

But months of talks have so far failed to pin down the details of a truce and hostage release deal.

The mediators said that the two days of talks in Doha were "serious and constructive".

In a joint statement, they said the United States had presented a "bridging proposal" that sought to secure a rapid deal at a new round of talks in Cairo next week.

Hamas swiftly announced its opposition to what it called "new conditions" from Israel in the latest plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the mediators to put "pressure" on Hamas "to accept the May 27 principles", referring to Biden's framework.

Western ally Jordan however put the blame squarely on Netanyahu for blocking a deal, with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi urging pressure "by everyone who wishes to see this through to completion".

- 'Impunity' -

An informed source told AFP that the conditions Hamas objected to included keeping Israeli troops on Gaza's border with Egypt, and terms related to the release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for Israeli hostages.

Diplomatic pressure on Israel to agree a truce has increased in recent weeks.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne held talks in Israel Friday to urge a Gaza ceasefire.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told his visiting counterparts he expects foreign support "in attacking" Iran if it strikes Israel in revenge for Haniyeh's killing.

Sejourne replied that it would be "inappropriate" to discuss responding to any attack while diplomacy is in high gear to stop it happening.

A senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Iran would face "cataclysmic" consequences if it strikes Israel.

A deadly attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank late Thursday drew international condemnation and calls for sanctions, including against government ministers, over the upsurge in settler violence against Palestinians particularly since the Gaza war began.

The Israeli military said "dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked", entered the village of Jit, west of Nablus, and "set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails". A Palestinian man was shot dead.

The West Bank-based Palestinian foreign ministry described the attack as "organised state terrorism".

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said he would propose sanctions against Israeli government "enablers" of Jewish settler violence.

"Day after day, in an almost total impunity, Israeli settlers fuel violence in the occupied West Bank," Borrell posted on X.

"The Israeli government must stop these unacceptable actions immediately."

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a proponent of West Bank settlements, was quick to join other Israeli leaders in condemning Thursday's attack by "criminals".