A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that negotiations held in Egypt for an end to the war in Gaza were advancing in a "spirit of optimism".

"The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties," Taher al-Nunu told AFP from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where indirect talks began on Monday between Israel and Hamas.

Lebanon Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday urged Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the state "as soon as possible," warning the Iran-backed group it has run out of options.

"Hezbollah has no choice but to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state... because the state took this decision," Geagea told AFP in an interview from his residence in Maarab.

Spanish emergency services were scrambling to find four people who went missing after a building under construction in Madrid's touristic city center collapsed on Tuesday, injuring around 10, authorities said.

The toll "at the moment is estimated to be around 10, mostly minor, injuries", said Francisco Martin Aguirre, the central government's top representative in the Madrid region, adding that "there are four people missing".

Hamas said Tuesday it was working to overcome "all obstacles" as Palestinian militant leaders held indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war.

"The delegation of the movement participating in the current negotiations in Egypt seeks to surmount all obstacles to achieving an agreement that fulfils the aspirations of our people in Gaza," senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised speech.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that Israel should have ceased operations in Gaza already in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan.

"Regarding the ceasefire, this question should be directed first to the Israeli occupation government. It was supposed to actually cease fire if the statements made by the prime minister there regarding adherence to the Trump plan were true," Majed al-Ansari told reporters in Doha.

Indirect talks in Egypt between Israel and Hamas have been "positive" so far, two sources close to the Palestinian militants' negotiating team told AFP on Tuesday, with discussions set to resume around midday.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russia-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region killed four people, the Moscow-installed governor said Tuesday.

"Four civilians were killed on the highway between Zavodovka and Gornostayevka as a result of a targeted drone attack on civilian vehicles," Vladimir Saldo, governor of the Russian-occupied part of Kherson region wrote on Telegram, using the Russian spelling for the towns' names.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was meeting Tuesday with Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi in the presence of U.S. officials, a Syrian government source told AFP, after deadly clashes overnight in Kurdish-majority districts of Aleppo city.

It is the first encounter since July between Sharaa and Abdi, head of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and comes as implementation of a March deal between the two on integrating Kurdish institutions in the country's north and northeast into the state has largely stalled.

A U.S. delegation led by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and hostage and prisoner exchange on Wednesday, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said.

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Abdelatty said Tuesday he and Johann Wadephul "had a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, who is expected in Egypt in the coming hours".

The European Union is seeking a role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s transitional authority for the Gaza Strip, its top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday.

"Yes we feel that Europe has a great role and we should be also on board with this," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, when asked if the EU wanted to take part in Trump’s "Board of Peace".