Officials from the United States, Egypt and Qatar are due to meet in Doha to advance efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, sources said on Wednesday.
CIA Director William Burns and White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk travelled to the region again to promote the long-elusive deal, media reports said.
They would hold talks in Qatar and Egypt and possibly also visit Israel, the Times of Israel said.
Chief of the Egyptian intelligence service, Abbas Kamel, left on Wednesday for Doha for talks with Burns and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, sources at Cairo airport said.
The talks come as efforts have picked up fresh momentum after US President Joe Biden announced a plan last week to end the Gaza war.
On Tuesday, Qatar said neither the Israeli government nor Hamas had yet made a clear statement on Biden's proposal.
Qatar, the US and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and Hamas for months to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages kept by the militant group for Palestinian prisoners.
The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by militants from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 7.
The militants murdered more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 36,550 people have been killed so far and a further 82,959 injured.
These figures, which do not differentiate between fighters and civilians, cannot be independently verified at present.