The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would send its negotiating team to Qatar, this after Hamas said it had issued a "positive response" to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire proposal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel's Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip on Thursday for the first time since Hamas militants penetrated the border and killed or kidnapped nearly one in four residents nearly 21 months ago.

Shalom Lipner, non-resident Senior Fellow, Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council and a former advisor at Israel's Prime Minister's Office says while Israel's Gaza war has both "substantive" and "self-serving" objectives,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, while President Trump expressed positive feelings over a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Monday.

By Andrea Shalal and Alexander Cornwell WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials hold indirect talks with Hamas aimed at reaching a U.