Hamas is responsible for the renewed fighting in Gaza after rejecting efforts to move forward with what had been an “acceptable deal”, Reuters quotes US special envoy Steve Witkoff as saying.

“So this is on Hamas. The United States stands with the state of Israel,” Witkoff told Fox News.

“Hamas is the aggressor here,” Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.

He added: “Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarise and accept the bridging proposal, but they elected not to.”