Biden to meet families of American hostages amid renewed push for a deal

Driving the news: There have been no official negotiations over a new deal since the collapse of the 7-day ceasefire earlier this month.

• In the meantime, Israel expanded its ground operation to the southern Gaza strip and specifically the city of Khan Younis where Hamas' leadership is located.
• Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani and Secretary of State Tony Blinken discussed the issue during a meeting in Washington last Thursday, according to the State Department and the Qatari foreign ministry.

Behind the scenes: Qatari mediators contacted Israeli officials over the weekend to see whether there was interest in relaunching indirect talks with Hamas over a new deal, two Israeli sources said.

• The sources said the renewed discussion with the mediators "was only initial" and hasn't matured yet to a level that will allow the relaunching of negotiations. "But it could mature in the coming days," one source said.
• The mediators checked with the Israeli negotiating team about whether Israel would agree to a formula that will allow the release of the remaining female hostages but will include other elements in order to create a deal that would pause fighting longer than a day.

One of the sources said such a deal could include "humanitarian elements" like the release of elderly and sick men or release of hostages who are seriously wounded.

• Israel expressed willingness to discuss a new agreement that would also include the remaining women who they'd asked to be released in the previous deal.
• One source told Axios that if the mediators propose such a concrete formula, it would be possible to resume talks.