Mediators pushing to secure truce in Gaza conflict, says Israel

Efforts to secure a deal on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza are ongoing, Israel's intelligence agency Mossad said on March 9, despite dimming hopes for a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mossad chief David Barnea on March 8 met his United States counterpart, CIA director William Burns, to promote a deal that would see hostages released, Mossad said in a statement. US President Joe Biden said on March 9 that Mr Burns remained in the region.

"Contacts and cooperation with the mediators continue all the time in an effort to narrow the gaps and reach agreements," Mossad said in the statement, which was distributed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Israel and Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules the Palestinian enclave, have been locked in a war since Hamas militants launched a deadly Oct 7 rampage in southern Israel. Both sides have traded blame over the apparent deadlock in talks in the run-up to Ramadan, which begins on or around March 10.

Egypt, the US and Qatar have been mediating truce negotiations since January. The last deal struck was a week-long pause in fighting in November, during which Hamas released more than 100 hostages and Israel freed about three times as many Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas blames Israel for the impasse in negotiations for a longer ceasefire and the release of 134 hostages believed still held in Gaza - saying it refuses to give guarantees to end the war or pull its forces from the enclave.