Israeli PM hindering truce talks

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing negotiations for a truce and hostage release in Gaza as mediators again push for a deal.

The devastating war in the Palestinian territory is nine months old but back-and-forth negotiations, which have lasted nearly as long, have failed to end it.

In a statement, Hamas said the Israeli prime minister "continues to place more obstacles in front of the negotiations".

The movement accused Netanyahu of escalating "his aggression and crimes against our people" in what it said were "attempts to forcibly displace them in order to thwart all efforts to reach an agreement".

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said that Israel's military actions in Gaza could push mediated ceasefire talks back to square one.

In a call with mediators, Haniyeh said he held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's army fully responsible for the potential collapse of negotiations, Hamas said.

As heavy battles raged in Gaza City Monday, the Israeli military expanded its evacuation order in the territory's north, leaving thousands of Palestinians on the move.

Netanyahu's office reiterated in a statement on Sunday that "any deal will allow Israel to return and fight until all the goals of the war are achieved".

Hamas has signalled it would drop its insistence on a "complete" ceasefire, a demand Israel has repeatedly rejected.

In its statement Monday the resistance group said it had shown "flexibility and positivity to facilitate reaching an agreement" and urged mediators to end what it called "Netanyahu's tricks and crimes".

Palestinians Monday fled heavy battles in Gaza City as the Israeli military expanded an evacuation order.

Israeli troops and tanks pushed into parts of Gaza City, in the besieged territory's north, and battled Palestinian fighters.

Thousands were on the move again, according to the Civil Defence agency in the Hamas-run territory. Witnesses said messages on loudspeakers urged civilians to leave Gaza City's Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah neighbourhoods.

The Israeli military called on Palestinians to leave parts of Gaza City's west, the army's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media, expanding its evacuation zone in the territory's biggest city with the third order in less than two weeks.

AFP photographers saw Palestinians leave on foot, bikes and on donkey carts, carrying their belongings through rubble-strewn streets.

US, Israeli spy chiefs due in Doha for talks

US and Israeli intelligence chiefs will travel to Doha on Wednesday for discussions on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP on Monday.

CIA director William Burns and the head of Israel's Mossad David Barnea "are travelling to Doha on Wednesday", the source said.

Qatar has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, in efforts to reach a truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal.

Barnea had been in Doha on Friday amid a fresh push by negotiators to reach a deal. Egypt was also due to hold meetings this week.

The source said discussions in the Qatari capital had focused on "securing a transition from an initial truce to a more sustainable period of calm".