Pressure grows as "last chance" negotiations for Gaza deal resume

• President Biden sees a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza as the key to de-escalation in the Middle East and preventing a regional war.
• CIA director Bill Burns and President Biden's top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk will meet on Thursday in Doha with the Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, the director of Mossad David Barnea and the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel for the crucial round of negotiations.

Driving the news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for more than five hours on Wednesday with his top ministers and the heads of the security and intelligence services to discuss the mandate for the Israeli negotiators who will travel to Doha on Thursday.

• Netanyahu agreed at the meeting to slightly expand the mandate given to the Israeli negotiations team, according to two senior Israeli officials familiar with the matter.
• The Israeli officials said Netanyahu gave negotiators a "reasonable mandate" that justifies traveling to the round of talks in Qatar.
• They added that the new maneuvering space Netanyahu agreed to will make it possible to conduct serious negotiations in Doha and move forward, but stressed it is not clear whether this flexibility will be enough to reach a deal.

The other side: Hamas officials reiterated on Wednesday that they are not going to participate in the talks.

• The White House and the State Department said Qatar made it clear that it will make sure Hamas participates in the negotiations.
• A source with knowledge of the issue noted that Hamas officials who are involved in the negotiations are already based in Doha and the talks were never supposed to be direct.
• Hamas told the mediators that while its representatives would not participate in the talks, they would be willing to meet with the mediators afterward to receive an update and see if Israel presented what Hamas considers a serious and practical proposal for a deal, the source said.

Behind the scenes: The heads of the Israeli security and intelligence services told Netanyahu at the meeting on Wednesday that time is running out to reach a deal and emphasized that delay and insistence on certain positions in the negotiations could cost the lives of hostages, a senior Israeli official said.

• The official said they also gave Netanyahu a written document with the same message.
• In the meeting, officials pointed to Hamas' recent announcement that one male hostage was killed and two female hostages were seriously wounded by their captors.
• The Israeli intelligence services said they couldn't verify that at this point, but they are seriously concerned for the lives of hostages, the senior Israeli official said.

The big picture: The official said one of the issues raised in the meeting on Wednesday was the link between a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and reaching a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

• The White House said President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed Wednesday on developments in the Middle East, including "continued diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tension and to bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to a conclusion."
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told his Egyptian and Qatari counterparts ahead of the talks in Doha that "no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal," the State Department said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the White House.