Washington:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, Axios reported, citing two US sources.

One source told Axios that Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this was indeed what the former president told Netanyahu. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Late last month, Netanyahu visited the US and met President Joe Biden, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican former President Trump.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations for Thursday.

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, but an official briefed on the talks said mediators expected to consult with the Palestinian Islamist group afterwards.

Washington, Israel’s most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war in the Middle East.

There has been an increased risk of a broader war after the recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

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