US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel as early as Sunday to work on promoting the talks on ceasefire and hostage release in the Gaza Strip during his visit.

Washington is believed to have presented new bridging proposals and Israeli representatives are said to be talking to mediators in Qatar and Egypt about conditions for ceasefire.

US President Joe Biden told US reporters, "We are closer than we've ever been."

But Hamas has expressed distrust of Israel and the United States, saying that Israel is adding new conditions.

The US-Israel talks are expected to affect Iran's moves as it has declared its intent to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas' political leader during his visit to the country.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued bombing on Saturday in the central and southern parts of Gaza.

Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera quoted medical staff as saying that the bombing killed 34 people.