US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has touched down in Doha for talks with key mediator Qatar after Hamas gave its response to a US-led proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, AFP reports.

Blinken, on a four-country swing around the Middle East to push Hamas to accept the truce plan, will meet the top leadership in the gas-rich Gulf state, which has transmitted messages to the Palestinian group.

Hamas, responding to the plan laid out on May 31 by President Joe Biden, proposed amendments late Tuesday including a ceasefire timeline and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, according to a source familiar with the talks.