Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has blamed Israel for stalling ceasefire talks and rejecting Hamas's demand to end the war on Gaza, but said the group was still seeking a negotiated solution.
Mr Haniyeh said Israel had not yet given a commitment to end its military offensive, pull out its forces and allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes across Gaza.
"We don't want an agreement that doesn't end the war on Gaza," said Mr Haniyeh in a televised speech, one day before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins.
"The enemy still refuses to make guarantees and clear commitments over the issue of ceasefire and stopping the aggressive war on our people."
Mr Haniyeh said his group was determined to defend its people and, at the same time, seek a negotiated solution.
"Today, if we receive a clear position from the mediators, we are ready to proceed with completing the agreement and to show flexibility on the issue of prisoner exchange," said Mr Haniyeh.
Hamas precipitated the war by killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 in an attack on Israel on 7 October, according to Israeli tallies.
In response, Israel launched a ground offensive and aerial bombardment of densely populated Gaza which, as of today, had killed at least 31,045 Palestinians and wounded 72,654, according to the Hamas-run enclave's health ministry.
Hamas is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, the European Union, Britain and others.
Mr Haniyeh said his group was open to forming a unity government with the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other factions.
He said steps towards that goal could include electing a Palestinian National Council and forming an interim national consensus government with "specific tasks" until legislative and presidential elections are held.
Efforts to reconcile the two groups and end divisions that worsened following the 2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas have failed.
Abbas's authority to rule has since been reduced to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel's Mossad said yesterday that efforts to secure a deal were ongoing, despite dimming hopes for securing a truce before Ramadan starts.
Deadly fighting continues and a dire humanitarian crisis has gripped the besieged enclave.
A Spanish charity ship with food aid is set to sail from the Mediterranean island-nation of Cyprus to help alleviate the suffering.
The non-governmental group Open Arms said its boat would pull a barge with 200 tonnes of food, which its partner the US charity World Central Kitchen would then unload on the shores of Gaza.
Vessel tracking websites showed the Open Arms still in Larnaca this evening. It was expected to depart "in the coming hours", Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told Cyprus News Agency.
With the UN repeatedly warning of famine, US, Jordanian and other planes again airdropped food aid, but the United Nation's aid coordinator for the area has said more supply by land is the best way to get assistance to territory's 2.4 million people.
Weeks of talks involving United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have aimed for a six-week truce and the release of many of the roughly 100 hostages Hamas is still holding in return for Palestinians released from Israeli jails.
There have been no results so far.
The widely shared target had been to halt the fighting by the start of Ramadan, which begins tomorrow.
Both sides have blamed each other for failing to reach a deal, after Israel had demanded a full list of surviving hostages, and Hamas had called for Israel to pull out all its troops from Gaza.
Israel's government accused Hamas of "entrenching its positions like someone who is not interested in a deal and is striving to inflame the region during Ramadan".
Attention during the Muslim fasting month will focus on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem, a frequent flashpoint in the past as it is both Islam's third holiest site and sacred to Jews who call it the Temple Mount.
A source with knowledge of the truce talks told AFP that "there will be a diplomatic push especially in the next 10 days" with a view to securing a deal within the first half of Ramadan as negotiations between all parties continued.
US President Joe Biden reiterated yesterday that Israel has "a right to continue to pursue Hamas", but also stressed his growing impatience with Israel's right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
With the death toll ever-increasing, Mr Biden told broadcaster MSNBC that Mr Netanyahu "must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken".
At this stage, said Mr Biden, Mr Netanyahu's approach to the war was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel".
The comments came after Israeli protesters again took to the streets of Tel Aviv for anti-government rallies, joined by some of the desperate families and friends of hostages still held by Hamas.
Mr Biden also signalled he would be willing to speak directly to the Israeli people through an address to the Knesset legislature.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Nations agency had delivered some medical supplies and fuel to two hospitals in northern Gaza yesterday.
But he added that "we need sustained, safe access to health facilities in order to supply them with urgently needed lifesaving healthcare on a regular basis," and called for a ceasefire.
The UN has reported particular difficulty in accessing northern Gaza.
The territory's health ministry said at least 23 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration.
With Ramadan approaching there was no letup in fighting and bombardment in Gaza, with 85 killed in 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israeli military said its troops had killed 13 militants in air strikes and with tank and sniper fire in central Gaza over the past day.
It said its troops were also engaged in "close-quarter combat" in the southern city of Khan Younis, where strikes had killed 17.
The army reported the death of one more soldier in Gaza, bringing to 249 the number who have died there since ground operations began in late October. It says it has killed more than 10,000 militants.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel was preparing for "all possible operational scenarios" during Ramadan.
He said: "Hamas is preventing a deal and is acting against what was raised by the mediators."
Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called for the speedy distribution of aid and the full opening of border crossings "to end the siege of our people".
Mr Biden last Thursday announced that the US military would build a temporary pier on Gaza's coast to facilitate larger aid shipments by sea, but this would take about 60 days, according to the Pentagon.
The United States Central Command said a ship had left Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia yesterday carrying the "first equipment to establish a temporary pier" to receive aid off Gaza.
