US efforts to calm Mideast fighting face critical week

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have stalled for months amid exchanges of blame from both sides. The U.S. is expected to send a team of senior officials to the region this week, hoping to overcome obstacles and reach a deal as the region braces for a possible Iranian attack and further escalation.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar called on the parties to resume talks in a summit Thursday, promising to present their own proposal for bridging the remaining gaps if necessary. The U.S. said Israel has welcomed the invitation, while Hamas officials had yet to confirm whether they would participate.

In a message conveyed to Arab mediators Monday night, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said that if Israel is serious about negotiations and wants Hamas to participate, then it must stop its military operations in Gaza first, the mediators said.

Such a request is unlikely to be met by Israel, which has previously said it is determined to achieve its twin goals of defeating Hamas and securing the return of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly touted his goal of total victory over Hamas and has said a deal won’t prevent Israel from resuming the fight.

Talks between an Israeli delegation and counterparts continued on Tuesday in Cairo on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah crossing, which remains closed after Israel took over the Gaza side of the border area in May, a move that has limited the amount of aid entering Gaza.

Other unresolved issues in any cease-fire deal include the identity of Palestinian prisoners to be released, security arrangements in the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the Gaza Strip and is controlled by Israel, and the identity and number of hostages to be released.

As the war in Gaza has dragged on and as a pair of killings of militant leaders in Tehran and Beirut have pushed the Middle East to the brink of further escalation, countries are calling on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal and end the fighting.

Leaders from the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Italy expressed support for efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region and reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza in a joint statement on Monday.

The U.S. and others hope a cease-fire deal in Gaza would open the door to calming Israel’s standoff with Hezbollah along the Lebanese border and lowering tensions in the region.

Some 111 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, though Israel has said at least 39 of them are already dead. U.S. and Israeli officials privately estimate the number of dead could be much higher due to untreated wounds, lack of food, ill treatment by guards and Israeli airstrikes.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said Monday that one hostage had been killed and two critically wounded by their guards in Gaza, underscoring the risks that hostages face as a result of months of captivity. The Israeli military said that it is examining the credibility of Hamas’s claims.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials, who don’t say how many were combatants.

Polling shows that the majority of the Israeli public supports a hostage deal. A deal would require the release of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are charged with committing serious offenses against Israelis.

Israel’s security establishment including the military, the Shin Bet internal-security agency and the Mossad spy agency have expressed support for a deal, saying Hamas has been significantly weakened and that the hostages may not have much time.

Netanyahu also faces continued pressure for a deal from families of the hostages, many of whom protest across Israel every week.

Israel’s far-right politicians say defeating Hamas should be given priority over freeing the hostages. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have signaled that they would oppose a hostage deal and leave Netanyahu’s coalition if the prime minister agrees to a cease-fire under conditions they oppose.

Netanyahu depends on the far right to keep his ruling coalition intact and has faced accusations of hindering the negotiations from lawmakers in his government, Arab mediators and his own negotiators.

Another major obstacle to the talks is that Hamas has named Sinwar, a hard-liner believed to have been a key planner behind the Oct. 7 attacks, as its political leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a military guesthouse in Tehran.

Sinwar wants to achieve Palestinian statehood and shares Iran’s goal of destroying the state of Israel to achieve it.

While Sinwar effectively controlled the talks in the past, his new position could sideline Hamas officials with more moderate views on the talks.

Summer Said contributed to this article.

Write to Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com