The US urges Israel and Hamas to finalize a deal to end the Gaza war

The United States called on Tuesday for Israel and Hamas to finalize a deal to end the Gaza war, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to bow to pressure.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that "dozens of hostages" were still in Gaza and that it was time to finalize a deal to bring them home. He added that Washington would work with Egypt and Qatar in the coming days to push for a final agreement.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby echoed this sentiment, saying that the US believed a truce deal could be closed.

Netanyahu, however, said that he would not give in to pressure and that Israel must control Gaza's border with Egypt to stop Hamas from rearming.

Egypt rejected accusations that its Gaza border was being used to arm Hamas and accused Netanyahu of seeking to distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct a ceasefire deal.

The Israeli military said that it had recovered six hostages who were captured alive during Hamas's Oct 7 attack but were found shot dead shortly before their discovery.

Israel's campaign against Hamas has so far killed at least 40,819 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

The Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November - the only one so far.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday remaining hostages would return "inside coffins" if Israel maintains its military pressure on the territory.

After the first confirmed polio case in 25 years, a vaccination drive began Sunday amid localized "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting.

More than 161,000 children have now received their first vaccine dose in central Gaza, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. It aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children altogether.

In the north of the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, Israeli forces pressed ahead with raids that began nearly a week ago and that the Palestinian health ministry said have killed at least 30 people.