Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, a sign of the intensifying push to reach a deal before Donald Trump's inauguration next week.

Talks mediated over the past year by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled at moments when they seemed close to a deal. Still, in recent days, U.S. officials have expressed hope of sealing an agreement.

Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

But despite intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the talks have repeatedly stalled over several key issues, including the details of the exchange, whether the ceasefire would be permanent and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Monday that he would not support a deal in Gaza that halts the war, insisting that Israel should "open all the gates of hell" on the Palestinian territory.

"The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel's national security. We will not be part of a surrender deal," Smotrich said on X. "We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid... and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally."

U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal has not been reached yet, officials said Monday.

Three officials acknowledged progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

The Israeli military said that four soldiers had died in combat in the north of the Gaza Strip, more than 15 months into its war with Hamas militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, his office said Saturday, in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.

Intelligence officials in Syria's new de facto government thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, state media reported Saturday.

State news agency SANA reported, citing an unnamed official in the General Intelligence Service, that members of the IS cell planning the attack were arrested. It quoted the official as saying that the intelligence service is "putting all its capabilities to stand in the face of all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their spectrums."

The fall of Russian ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria has disrupted the Kremlin's strategy not only for the Mediterranean but also for Africa, pushing it to focus on Libya as a potential foothold, experts say.

Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, including a power station and coastal ports, in response to missile and drone launches, and warned it would hunt down the group's leaders.

A Syria monitor said fighters linked to the Islamist-led transitional administration publicly executed a local official on Friday, accusing him of having been an informant under ousted strongman Bashar al-Assad.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters affiliated with the new authorities executed Mazen Kneneh with a shot to the head in the street in the Damascus suburb of Dummar, describing him as "one of the best-known loyalists of the former regime".