Blinken visits Egypt, and will head to Qatar as the US pushes Hamas to agree to an amended deal that allows Israel to keep troops in Gaza.

Hamas has said a ceasefire deal must result in a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza, accusing the United States of “merely buying time for Israel to continue its genocide” by proposing an amended accord.

As the Palestinian group revealed details of Israel’s new conditions, it urged the world to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign the deal proposed by US President Joe Biden on May 31 and backed by the United Nations Security Council on June 11.

“The Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden’s proposal. Netanyahu’s talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement,” Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Monday.

On Tuesday, Biden said Hamas was “backing away” from the deal agreed to by Israel.

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