The White House said it viewed the cease-fire deal for the Gaza Strip as still possible Thursday, based on Hamas’s latest response to an American-backed plan, as Israel ramped up attacks around Rafah in southern Gaza.

       “We are working actively to generate a path forward based on what Hamas has come in with,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in Italy, referring to Hamas’s latest response with an amended proposal. “It gets us to a result that’s consistent with what the U.N. Security Council laid down and consistent with [what] President Biden laid out; we believe that is possible.”