US President Joe Biden spoke with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, about the situation in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
The White House said in a statement that the two leaders agreed that the release of hostages held by Hamas is essential to reaching a longer-term truce.
"The two leaders emphasized that reaching an agreement on the hostages is essential to achieving a long-term humanitarian truce in the fighting and ensuring that additional life-saving humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in need throughout Gaza."
Brett McGurk, Biden's advisor for Middle East affairs, had visited Doha a few days ago to discuss the possibility of concluding another exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the United States would support a longer humanitarian truce in the fighting in Gaza to ensure the release of hostages and the entry of more aid.
Biden also spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday.
The White House said in a statement that the two sides discussed intensifying efforts to increase the sending of life-saving humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip and agreed to continue their close coordination on humanitarian assistance.
A US military-built pier off Gaza's coast is being temporarily removed after a part of the structure broke off, the Pentagon said, in the latest blow to efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
South Korea has accused North Korea of sending a large number of balloons across the heavily fortified border between the countries to drop objects that included trash and excrement, calling the act base and dangerous.
The Biden administration said it was closely monitoring the probe into a deadly Israeli airstrike it called tragic, but that the recent deaths in Rafah didn't constitute a major ground operation there that crosses any US red lines.
Israel pounded Rafah with airstrikes and tank fire on Tuesday, pressing its offensive in Gaza's southern city despite international condemnation of an attack that sparked a blaze in a tent camp for the displaced, killing at least 45 people.
Around one million people have fled the Gazan city of Rafah in the past three weeks, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
Torrential rains brought by cyclone Remal caused a collapse in a stone quarry in India's state of Mizoram, killing 15 people and trapping seven, while eight more have died in landslides and other accidents elsewhere in the remote region.
North Korea said its attempt to launch a new military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure on Monday when a newly developed rocket engine exploded in flight.
More than 2,000 people could be buried alive by a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea last week, the government said on Monday, as treacherous terrain and the difficulty of getting aid to the site raises the risk few survivors will be found.
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!