US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading back to the Middle East today to push a ceasefire plan, but Israeli politics and silence from Hamas raised further questions on whether he can succeed, AFP reports.

The top US diplomat, paying his eighth visit to the region since the conflict broke out, was set to start the trip in Egypt and head later on Monday to Israel.

Blinken is scheduled to hold closed-door talks first in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a key US partner in peace efforts, and later in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blinken planned the visit to push forward a proposal announced on May 31 by President Joe Biden, who has stepped up efforts to end an offensive that has taken a mounting toll on civilians and alienated parts of his base ahead of November elections.

But Hamas has not formally responded. And while Biden has described his plan as coming from Israel, the resignation on Sunday of a key centrist, Benny Gantz, from Netanyahu’s war cabinet throws a new wild card on US diplomatic efforts.

Gantz, a former general who leads in polls to replace Netanyahu if new elections are called, protested that the prime minister had not made the hard decisions to enable “real victory”, including by thinking out a post-conflict plan for Gaza. Gantz has cast himself as a smoother partner for the United States than Netanyahu, a veteran of political squabbles with Israel’s vital ally.