Israel has agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on August 15 at the demand of U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday. 

"Following the proposal of the United States and mediators, Israel will on August 15 send a delegation of negotiators to the agreed place to conclude the details of implementing a deal," the office said in a statement. 

Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators earlier released a joint statement, calling on Israel and Hamas to restart talks on August 15 to close all remaining gaps in the proposed deal and begin implementing it without further delay.

"We have worked for months to reach a framework agreement, and it is now on the table, with only the details of implementation missing," they said.

"There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay. It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement," they added.

The truce talks could take place in either Doha or Cairo, according to the joint statement.

Hamas, the Palestinian faction that governs Gaza, has yet to respond.

Reuters cited an anonymous U.S. official saying there was no expectation that the agreement would be signed by next week, given serious issues that include the sequencing of the exchanges between Hamas and Israel. 

The U.S. official also mentioned that the joint statement was not designed to influence Iran but that any escalation would jeopardize hope of getting an Israel-Hamas deal done.

Iran's mission to the United Nations said earlier on Thursday that it was pursuing two priorities simultaneously.

"First, establishing a durable ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of the occupiers from this territory," it said, as well as "punishing the aggressor" for the July 31 assassination of former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

Gaza airstrikes

Israeli forces stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people.

Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza's Al-Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Al-Nuseirat camp, killing four, medics said. Nuseirat and Bureij are among the densely populated enclave's eight historical camps and are seen by Israel as strongholds of armed militants.

Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the heart of Gaza City in the north, killing five Palestinians, while another airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, according to medics.

Later on Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 30 injured in Israeli bombings of two schools east of Gaza City, the territory's Civil Emergency Service said in a statement.

(With input from agencies)