Reuters quoted US officials and two Egyptian sources as saying that the White House is rushing to put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the coming days. The US officials said that the new proposal aims to resolve the main points of contention behind the months-long stalemate in talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt seeking a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters separately on Wednesday that much of the deal had been agreed upon but that negotiators were still trying to work out two major obstacles.

The US official, who declined to be identified, said these were Israel's demands to keep troops in the Philadelphi Corridor, a buffer zone in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, and specific individuals who would be included in a swap of Hamas hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

“There is a very strong perception among the negotiators that the ceasefire is slipping away,” said the first U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasizing the urgency behind the efforts. The U.S. official said that since U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s last tour of the region last month failed to produce a breakthrough, mediators have continued working-level discussions, and those talks are ongoing.

The two Egyptian sources said the United States had shifted from a more consultative approach to trying to impose a ceasefire plan on both sides.

But another US official assured reporters that the revised plan would not be a final offer, either this or not, and that Washington would continue working toward a ceasefire if it failed.

Parts of the three-stage agreement, already accepted by both sides, require Israel to withdraw from all densely populated areas of Gaza in the first phase of the deal. The current dispute, the senior administration official said, is whether the corridor qualifies as a densely populated area.

"So we're really talking here about the first phase, about what this configuration will look like," the official explained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in turn, confirmed on Wednesday that he would not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor.

Asked how the administration expected to bridge the gap on this issue, given Netanyahu’s continued insistence that Israeli troops remain there, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday: “We are not going to negotiate publicly on this issue. I will just repeat what we have said before, which is that the government of Israel, from the prime minister on down, has accepted the proposal that the president has made and the proposal that includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas throughout Gaza — the Gaza Strip. And what we are working on every hour of the day is trying to figure out how to bridge these remaining divisions and find a way to reach a ceasefire agreement.”

"But as you heard me say yesterday, this will require flexibility on the part of the government of Israel, just as it will require Hamas to finally find a reason - a way to come to terms. And that's why we will continue to engage with the government of Israel on this issue," Miller added at his daily press conference.

“We understand the real security needs that Israel faces in ensuring that weapons are not smuggled through the Philadelphi Corridor,” Miller said. “We believe that there are ways to address that problem, and it is also important that we understand the real security needs that Israel faces in achieving a ceasefire that allows us to reach a diplomatic resolution to the situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border and helps us calm the broader regional tensions, all of which pose a threat to Israel’s security.”

“So I bring all this up only because this discussion often focuses on this particular threat to Israel’s security, the possibility of smuggling through the Philadelphi Corridor, which we think is important to address,” the spokesman said. “But it should not be discussed in the absence of all the other improvements to Israel’s security that we believe a ceasefire agreement would bring about.”

Asked what makes him think the Israelis will show any flexibility, given Netanyahu’s repeated insistence that Israel be in the Philadelphi corridor, Miller responded: “That is the core point of the negotiations, and that is why we are engaged in these negotiations with Israel and with the other mediating states, Egypt and Qatar. We will not try to emphasize this publicly, but we will continue to conduct these negotiations because we believe that reaching a ceasefire and finding a way to bridge these divisions is in Israel’s interest, just as we believe it is in the interest of the Palestinian people and the broader region.”

Miller refused to talk about any timetable for the return of high-level negotiations, especially since the United States is developing this intended proposal as soon as possible and conveying it to Israel and Hamas, and trying to reach a final agreement.

Asked about Netanyahu’s statement that he would not change his policies to reduce civilian casualties, which directly contradicts the administration’s ongoing calls to stop Palestinian civilian casualties, Miller said, “We want to see that direct quote and see the exact context in which it was said before I respond specifically. But I would say that we think it is absolutely necessary. It is a moral imperative and a security imperative for Israel to reduce civilian casualties. We have gone to them several times during this campaign with specific recommendations about things they can do to reduce civilian casualties, and we have seen them implement some of those recommendations to reduce civilian casualties.”