Israel in Gaza talks in Egypt as fighting rages

Israeli negotiators were taking part on Thursday in ceasefire talks on Gaza in Cairo as fighting raged on the ground despite U.S. pressure on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.

Hopes for a deal have dwindled though as Israel and Hamas have traded blame for failing to reach a deal after more than 10 months of deadly fighting in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed home without a breakthrough on Wednesday from his latest tour of the Middle East aimed at finalizing a ceasefire.

In a phone call later, President Joe Biden pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a deal, stressing "the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure," the White House said.

A main sticking point remains Hamas's longstanding demand for a "complete" Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Netanyahu has opposed.

Netanyahu, whose hard-right coalition relies on the support of members opposed to a truce, said Israel must "control" the Palestinian territory's border with Egypt.

"Netanyahu insists on the principle that Israel control the Philadelphi Corridor in order to prevent Hamas from rearming itself," his office said.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of "obstructing an agreement," citing his "insistence on continuing to occupy" the Philadelphi Corridor as well as Netzarim junction, which sits at a strategic point between northern and southern Gaza and where witnesses reported clashes on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of attempting to ignite a "full-scale" regional conflict after it killed one of the leaders of Fatah's armed wing in Lebanon.

The ongoing conflict has devastated Gaza, displaced nearly all its population at least once, and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency recently said that Israel has shrunk the so-called "humanitarian zone" in the besieged Gaza Strip to only 11 percent of the enclave, causing chaos and fear amongst displaced Palestinians who have nowhere to go.

Although Israel has issued an evacuation order for the area, "we decided not to move despite the danger," 32-year-old Tahani Abu Sherbi, a mother of four, in central Gaza, told AFP. "We are tired of displacement."

Witnesses said they saw heavy Israeli shelling in Khan Younis and air strikes in southern and central Gaza, while the military said Israeli troops intensified operations around Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah further north.

(With input from AFP)