US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington is working “intensively” with its partners “to bridge the remaining gaps” for a deal to free hostages held by Hamas and secure a ceasefire in Gaza, AFP reports.

“Yes, there has been a counter-proposal put forward by Hamas. I obviously can’t get into the details of what that involves, but what I can tell you is we’re working intensively with Israel, with Qatar, with Egypt, to bridge the remaining gaps and to try to reach an agreement,” Blinken said during a visit to Vienna.