Israel-Gaza updates: Crossing closed to aid after rockets fired from Rafah: IDF

Hamas is expected to submit a response to Israel's current hostage and cease-fire deal proposal "within hours," a senior Egyptian official told ABC News Wednesday.

The official said efforts to broker a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are proceeding in a “positive atmosphere."

“Negotiations are continuing with all sides to resolve a number of sticking points," the official added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept the terms of the cease-fire deal.

"Israel has made very important compromises in the proposal that is on the table, demonstrating its desire and willingness to get this agreement and get it done," he said while at the Port of Ashdod.

"There is no time for delay. There's no time for further haggling. The deal is there. They should take it," he added.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy and Shannon Crawford

The Israel Defense Forces opened the Erez Crossing Wednesday for the first time since the war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7.

The Israeli government announced it would reopen the crossing last month after President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli airstrike.

The IDF said that 30 trucks of humanitarian aid "including food and medical supplies for the northern part of the Gaza Strip, arrived from Jordan and entered Gaza."

-ABC News' Bruno Nota

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a previously unannounced visit Wednesday to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, ​becoming the first cabinet-level U.S. official to visit the border of Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Blinken attended a closed briefing on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction while he was at the site, which was shuttered for more than two months after the attacks.

Blinken was able to look into Gaza from the top of the massive concrete wall, according to pool reporters.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem for 2 1/2 hours to discuss numerous topics about the ongoing conflict, according to the State Department.

Blinken discussed "the need to avoid further expansion of the conflict," and "reiterated the United States’ clear position on Rafah," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"The secretary discussed ongoing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal and emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a ceasefire," Miller added.

Blinken also discussed improving aid delivery into Gaza and "reiterated the importance of accelerating and sustaining that improvement," according to Miller.

Prior to meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken spoke with the families of hostages that had gathered outside his hotel in Tel Aviv.

-ABC News' Joseph Simonetti