Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter the overcrowded Gazan city of Rafah, even as a new round of talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open Thursday in Cairo.

Netanyahu announced the order after rejecting Hamas's response to a ceasefire proposal at the centre of intense recent diplomatic efforts, though visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted on Wednesday that he still saw "space for agreement to be reached".

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East on Thursday with public divisions between the United States and Israel at perhaps their worst level since Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza began in October.

Wrapping up a four-nation Mideast trip — his fifth to the region since the conflict erupted — Blinken was returning to Washington after getting a virtual slap in the face from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the war would continue until Israel is completely victorious and appeared to reject outright a response from Hamas to a proposed cease-fire plan.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas is still possible.

Blinken made the announcement late Wednesday after talks with Israeli leaders. The discussions focused on Hamas’ response to a cease-fire proposal floated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.

A U.S. drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement, calling them "delusional," a position that complicates efforts to strike a deal between the sides.

Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel's war against Hamas, now in its fifth month, until achieving "absolute victory."

U.S. military action has so far failed to halt attacks by Iran-backed groups on Washington's forces in the Middle East and shipping in the Red Sea, with the threats persisting despite recent heavy air strikes.

The attacks by militants -- which the armed groups that claim them say are driven by the Israel-Hamas war -- have been launched from or hit four different countries, posing a multi-front challenge for the United States, which aims to curb the unrest while avoiding direct conflict with Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday described the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel as the "biggest anti-Semitic massacre of our century" as he hosted a ceremony paying tribute to the French victims.

He described the attack by the Palestinian militant group as "barbarism... which is fed by anti-Semitism and propagates it," vowing also not to give in to "rampant and uninhibited anti-Semitism."

Israel has said it was examining Hamas's response to a plan to halt nearly four months of fighting in Gaza, after key mediator Qatar said the Palestinian militants had given a "positive" reply to the proposed agreement.

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his fifth tour of the region since the war broke out in October, arrived in Israel to discuss what he called an "essential" agreement.

Saudi Arabia has told Washington it will not establish ties with Israel until an independent Palestinian state "is recognised", the Gulf kingdom's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the U.S. administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognised on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," read the statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday after Hamas put forward a detailed plan for a new cease-fire and hostage release deal, but both sides remain dug in on thus far elusive goals as the war enters its fifth month.

Hamas laid out a three-phase plan to unfold over 4 1/2 months, responding to a proposal drawn up by the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. All hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including senior militants, and an end to the war.