ISRAEL must withdraw all its troops from Gaza, a senior Hamas leader said today, adding that changes to a US ceasefire deal requested by the Palestinian group were “not significant.”

This came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States would keep trying to finalise an elusive agreement to end the Gaza conflict following Hamas’s proposed changes to the plan, some of which he said were “workable” and some not.

He blamed Hamas for the absence of a deal so far, accusing it of changing its demands.

The US has claimed that Israel accepts its proposal, but there has been no public confirmation of this from Israeli side.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that his government will not commit to ending its brutal military campaign before Hamas is eliminated.

Speaking to Reuters, the senior Hamas leader said the group had demanded to choose a list of 100 Palestinians serving long sentences to be released from Israeli jails.

The Israeli document excluded 100 prisoners with long sentences and restricted releases to jail inmates with less than 15 years remaining.

“There are no significant amendments that, according to Hamas leadership, warrant objection,” the Hamas leader said.

Hamas’s demands also include the reconstruction of Gaza; the lifting of the blockade, including the opening of border crossings; free movement of people; and transport of goods without restrictions, he said.

Israel described Hamas’s response to the proposal as a total rejection.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the western area of Rafah today, following one of the worst nights of air, ground and sea bombardments.

Many families were forced to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said, after Israeli forces pushed towards the al-Mawasi area near the beach.

The site has been designated as a humanitarian zone by the Israeli army since it began its Rafah offensive last month.

In a statement, the military denied it had carried out any strikes in al-Mawasi, adding that its assault aimed to wipe out Hamas’s last intact combat units in Rafah.

The city on the Egyptian border previously sheltered more than a million people displaced from northern parts of Gaza, but most of them have now been forced back towards the centre of the devastated coastal enclave.