On the eve of what is supposed to be a critical, final push to seal the Gaza cease-fire/hostage release deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is working the phones with key mediators as the U.S. works to make sure negotiations will indeed press on.

In his conversations with his Qatari and Egyptian counterparts, Blinken discussed efforts to reach an agreement and stressed that "no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal," according to readouts of the calls.

This comes as Hamas continues to assert that it will not participate in the talks in Doha, Qatar -- accusing Israel of moving the goal posts and insisting it will only move forward with the version of the deal it agreed to in early July.

Qatar has assured the Biden administration that it will drum up some sort of Hamas representative to fill the group's seat at the negotiating table, U.S. officials said. However, Qatar has made no promise about the quality of said representation. Getting messages to Hamas' ultimate power and deciding vote, Yahya Sinwar, can take days or even weeks, so to be effective in the talks, the intermediary needs to have a good idea of what Sinwar might ultimately sign off on and what's a nonstarter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting on maintaining operational control over the Philadelphi Corridor -- a narrow strip of land separating Gaza from Egypt -- through the duration of any cease-fire, as well as implementing additional procedures for Gazans that would be returning to their homes in the North, according to officials familiar with the matter.

As for Hamas, the group has called for more than two dozen changes to the framework that was rolled out in May, which U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted is "nearly identical" to a deal Hamas previously agreed to.

Regarding Iran, U.S. officials don't have a crystal-clear view of Tehran's position, but the administration does put stock into the idea that Iran doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize a peace deal and sees the looming talks as a potential reason there hasn't yet been retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Israeli forces said they killed two Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Wednesday.

Hezbollah also confirmed the death of two of their fighters in statements released on Wednesday.

The IDF said an Israeli Air Force aircraft "eliminated two Hezbollah terrorists" in the area of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expanded the mandate and positions of the Israeli negotiators, an Israeli official told ABC News, giving the team more flexibility ahead of the cease-fire talks in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.

The development comes as he faces growing criticism to reach a cease-fire deal.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

The White House expects Thursday's cease-fire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, to "move forward as planned" and said the announcement of Hamas not sending a delegation is just "public posturing" in advance of those discussions.

"We expect these talks to move forward as planned. [CIA] Director [Bill] Burns and Brett McGurk, [White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa], will both travel to Qatar for these discussions. There's always a lot of public posturing in advance. We've seen that before. It's not new of these talks, and I'm not going to certainly weigh in on any of that, just like I'm not going to discuss the details of the negotiation," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.