Palestinian Territories (AFP)— Hopes rose Wednesday that Israel and Hamas may be inching toward another truce and hostage-release deal in the Gaza war, following talks in Europe and a visit to Egypt by the head of the Palestinian militant group.

While some talked of a truce, fighting raged and Gaza’s Hamas government said the death toll in the Palestinian territory reached 20,000.

Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there can be no Gaza ceasefire until Hamas militants are destroyed, but Washington expressed hope the truce talks can bring results.

“These are very serious discussions and negotiations and we hope that they lead somewhere,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also voiced hope for a new pause in fighting.

“We remain very actively engaged in seeing if we can get a pause back on and hostages moving out again,” he said.

The comments came after Netanyahu, under pressure from Washington and other allies over civilian casualties, said fighting would not stop until all objectives are achieved: “the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza.”

Late Tuesday he had told relatives of some of the remaining 129 captives held in Gaza that he had sent the head of the Mossad spy agency “to Europe twice to promote a process to free our hostages”.

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

In response, Israel began a relentless bombardment alongside a ground invasion. Hamas says most of those killed in Gaza have been women and children.

Netanyahu has faced protests from hostage relatives seeking an urgent deal to free the captives.

“Every moment the hostages are there, is danger. They have no time,” said Ofir Engel, 17, a Dutch-Israeli former captive.

Mossad director David Barnea held a “positive meeting” in Warsaw this week with CIA chief Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a source familiar with the talks told AFP, asking not to be named.

Talks were ongoing “with the aim of reaching an agreement around the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for a truce and the potential release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons,” said the source.

Qatar, backed by Egypt and the United States, last month helped broker a first week-long truce that saw 80 Israeli hostages freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

The Qatar-based chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Egypt for talks with that country’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

A Hamas official, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity, told AFP in Gaza that “a total ceasefire and a retreat of the Israeli occupation army from the Gaza Strip are a precondition for any serious negotiation” on a hostage-prisoner swap.

The Egypt talks would focus on proposals including a week-long truce that would see the release of 40 Israeli hostages, a source close to Hamas said earlier.

Before leaving Qatar, Haniyeh met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian but no details were released.