"This war cannot go on indefinitely and that is why it is necessary to achieve a ceasefire," said Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas' political bureau.

He added that "communication with the mediators is still ongoing" but "there are no new proposals for now."

A day earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said new talks were underway aimed at freeing more hostages from captivity in Gaza.

"We are now working on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we are determined to get all the hostages out," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office.

For his part, Trump said, "The negatives are about to be released. We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We're looking at the possibility of another ceasefire, we'll see what happens."

The United States, Qatar and Egypt brokered a fragile ceasefire, the first phase of which went into effect on January 19 before ending with Israel's renewed air strikes on Gaza on March 18.

The ceasefire allowed the return of 33 Israeli hostages, 8 of whom were killed, in exchange for the release of some 1,800 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

On April 8, Badran said that Hamas "is open to all ideas that would lead to a ceasefire and an end to the genocide being perpetrated against our Palestinian people." | BGNES