Hamas

A group representing relatives of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel said Thursday that autopsies showed "bullets were found in the bodies" of six captives Israeli troops recovered from an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, raising questions about how they died.

The United States said Friday that progress had been made at the latest round of Gaza truce talks, after the presence of Israeli troops on the Egyptian border emerged as a major sticking point.

The White House said CIA chief William Burns was among U.S. officials taking part in the discussions in Cairo, joining the heads of Israel's spy agency and security service.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi communicated on Friday with his French and British counterparts, indicating that while Iran does not seek to escalate the regional conflict, it retains the right to respond to Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

A Hamas official on Friday accused Israel's prime minister of refusing to agree to a final truce accord for Gaza, where the presence of Israeli troops on the Egyptian border remained a major sticking point.

An Israeli team was in Cairo "negotiating to advance a hostage (release) agreement", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP late on Thursday.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. (AFP photo)

Iran's new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has called for dialogue with the European Union to resolve bilateral issues, following a phone call with the bloc's top diplomat.

Israeli negotiators were taking part Thursday in talks on Gaza in Cairo, a government spokesman said, 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 Palestinian militant group Hamas have traded blame for failing to reach a deal after more than 10 months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Hopes were dwindling Thursday for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where fighting raged despite pressure from the United States on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.

Demonstrators rally in protest over the war in Gaza near the United Center where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is taking place on Aug. 21, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

The Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad articulated their conditions for a potential agreement with Israel on Wednesday.

Lebanese firefighters put out a fire in a car after an Israeli strike in the southern city of Sidon on Aug. 21, 2024. An Israeli strike in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on Aug. 21, killed a Fatah official, said a leader from the Palestinian group and a security source, marking the first such attack reported on Fatah in over 10 months of cross-border clashes.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call to discuss ongoing efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Blinken concluded his ninth wartime tour of the Middle East.