40,000 DEATHS

ISRAEL'S most senior spy chiefs landed in Qatar in a lastditch bid for peace in Gaza as the death toll topped 40,000.

- CHRIS HUGHES

If Mossad boss David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar succeed they could stop an Iran revenge attack on Israel for the killing last month of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

But if Iran launches strikes against Israel, through its proxies or worse, it could trigger a major regional war in the Middle East.

The spy chiefs were joined by Major General Nitzan Alon and Prime Minister Netanyahu's adviser Ophir Falk - but observers here in Israel and beyond fear this is just gesture politics.

One non-Israeli intelligence source said: "Many believe this is purely for show and the Israeli delegation has no mandate to deliver. There is now a serious rift between the US, Egypt and Qatar interlocutors."

According to sources, the only way the Israeli delegation can succeed in pulling off a deal is if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bows to pressure from the US to relax certain red lines.

As the delegation talked, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war topped 40,000, 1.7 per cent of the population. Some 60 per cent of buildings are damaged or totally destroyed.

Cross-border missile exchanges continued between the Israeli Defence Force and Lebanese Hezbollah, and Israel is bracing for Iran's long-anticipated attack.