JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Israelis and Palestinians are signalling new efforts to forge a ceasefire deal, even a limited one, for the first time in a year that would pause the fighting in Gaza and return to Israel some of the hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call on Wednesday (Dec 11) there was now a chance for a new deal that would allow the return of all the hostages, including US citizens, Katz's office said.

A Western diplomat in the region, however, said a deal was taking shape but it would likely be limited in scope, involving the release of only a handful of hostages and a short pause in hostilities.

Such a truce and release would be only the second since the start of the war in October 2023.

The guarded optimism emerges as US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan heads to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and then to Egypt and Qatar, co-mediators with the US on a deal.

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