According to media reports, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday in an attempt to reach a deal on the release of further hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The aim of the new talks in the Egyptian capital is to first sound out whether it makes sense for the Israeli intelligence chiefs to take part in the indirect negotiations in the coming days, the Times of Israel reported, citing an Israeli representative.
Israel was "disappointed" with the mediator Qatar, where negotiations were last conducted before they broke down a few days ago.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and the Islamist Hamas for weeks in order to achieve a new ceasefire and an exchange of hostages taken from Israel for Palestinian prisoners. Israel and Hamas are not negotiating directly.
A Hamas leader, Osama Hamdan, told the Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera on Sunday that his organisation continues to demand an end to the Israeli attacks, an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of internally displaced persons to the north of the Gaza Strip and the reconstruction of the coastal strip.
Israel rejects this. Israel's goal is to destroy Hamas. Hamdan accused Israel of obstructing the negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, accused Hamas on Sunday of hardening its positions, while Israel has shown flexibility. He said that the terrorist organisation was demanding an "uncontrolled return" of people to the north of the Gaza Strip, "including Hamas terrorists."
He emphasized that a victory over Hamas was only possible with an offensive in the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt. "We will destroy the Hamas battalions in Rafah," Netanyahu said.
The United Nations and Israel's allies, including the US and Germany, have warned that such an operation would exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation there and prevent the urgently needed basic provision of humanitarian aid.
According to estimates, more than one million people are currently crammed into the city. Most of them have fled from the fighting in other parts of the Gaza Strip.