Sources: Teams from Hamas, Qatar leave Cairo after talks on Gaza deal

Representatives from Palestinian militant group Hamas and mediator Qatar left the Egyptian capital on Thursday after talks seeking a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel, sources at the Cairo airport said.

There was no immediate word on the outcome of the latest round of negotiations, although reports of the departures sparked concerns for the prospects for an agreement.

Hamas confirmed its team’s departure from Cairo heading for Doha, where the group’s political bureau is based.

“We in the Hamas movement affirm our commitment and adherence to our position by agreeing to the paper presented by the mediators,” Izzat al-Risheq, a member of of Hamas' Political Bureau, said without giving details.

The top US intelligence officer also departed from Cairo, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

CIA chief William Burns this week launched a whirlwind shuttle diplomacy mission, travelling between Egypt, Qatar and Israel to advance the talks aimed to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

"His departure does not connote the end of the current round of negotiations," Kirby said.

The talks had continued Thursday with attendance of all the parties concerned, Egypt’s state-affiliated TV station al-Qahera News reported.

The broadcaster quoted what it termed as an Egyptian high-level source, who said Egypt had renewed its warning to participants against the “danger of escalation” if negotiations failed to clinch a deal.

Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly, so the US, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators, attempting to halt the conflict that has led to the deaths of nearly 35,000 people in the coastal strip.

The Palestinian territory has been the target of a massive Israeli air and ground offensive since the October 7 terrorist attacks led by Hamas, which killed 1,200 in southern Israel. Hamas took around 250 people hostage, some of whom have been released. It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive.

In Israel, there was further comment on US President Joe Biden's threat of an arms freeze in the event of a further advance in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X on that Hamas loves Biden, using a red heart emoji. Later, the Israeli president and opposition politicians criticized Ben-Gvir for endangering Israel with such statements.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN, Biden had said that the United States would not supply the weapons for a full-scale invasion of Rafah, which is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

The US government had already decided last week to withheld a delivery of ammunition because of Israel's actions in Rafah.

US media reported that the delivery comprised 3,500 bombs, including 2,000-pound bombs.

According to analysts, Israel is using these in the fight against Hamas, for example to destroy the Islamists' underground tunnels.

Senior Israeli officials have expressed "deep frustration" over the withheld delivery and warned that it could jeopardize indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages, two informed sources told the Axios news portal.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X: "Israel will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction. There is no war more just than this."

Since the Israeli army took over the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Monday, around 80,000 people have fled the city, which is overcrowded with refugees, according to UN figures.

Israel expanded its presence on Tuesday by sending troops to the eastern side of Rafah.

"The toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe," the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East or UNRWA said on X, adding: "We need a #CeasefireNOW."

Amid catastrophic humanitarian circumstances in Gaza, a freighter carrying hundreds of tons of aid for the civilian population departed from the Cypriot port of Larnaca bound for a US-built floating pier off Gaza.

The Sagamore was transporting urgently needed aid from the United States, Britain and Cyprus and would soon arrive in Gaza, Cypriot government spokesman Giannis Antoniou said on the radio.

"By the time the freighter arrives (in Gaza), the pier that the US is building will also be ready," he added.

US troops are expected to complete a temporary harbour off Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid on Thursday, as Gaza has no ports deep enough to allow larger freighters carrying aid to dock.

The conflict also raged on along Israel's northern border, with an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon killing at least four people, Lebanese civil defence and security sources said.

The attack set the car ablaze on a road in the town of Baflieh in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced that death of three of its fighters. It added that a fourth was seriously wounded.

The militia usually does not elaborate on when, where and how its fighters die.

The Israeli military did not comment on the incident when asked, though said a 20-year-old soldier was killed in "actions in northern Israel" the day before.

Later on Thursday, Hezbollah claimed they attacked two Israeli posts close to the Lebanese border.