Collapse of Cairo Negotiations between Hamas and Israel

Israeli broadcasting authority revealed on Thursday evening that the Cairo negotiations "collapsed and the government will decide the next step tonight." For its part, the U.S. State Department announced that "Washington continues dialog with the Israeli government regarding Hamas's proposal and is working to finalize the text of the ceasefire agreement." It stated, "Efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza are extremely difficult." The Israeli army radio noted that the Israeli delegation "expressed reservations about Hamas's proposal" and confirmed that "the operation in Rafah will continue as planned." An American source told "Al Jazeera" that it was decided to halt the talks taking place in Cairo regarding the ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners due to the current situation in Rafah. The delegations from Hamas and Israel left Cairo this afternoon after two days of negotiations.