A Hamas delegation left the Cairo negotiations for a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal after talks reached an impasse on Sunday, two senior Hamas officials and two other officials familiar with the talks told The New York Times.
An Israeli official also confirmed to the Times that negotiations had stalled, claiming they were in "crisis."
Previously, reports had claimed that there was progress and a "positive spirit" to the talks. But Hamas' main demand is that Israel completely end the war, while Israel has explicitly said that doing so would be a disaster, promising to fully defeat Hamas and ensure that Gaza never again pose a threat to Israel's security or that of its citizens.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, claimed to the Times that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at fault for the impasse and lack of progress.
In a phone interview with the news outlet, Abu Marzouk claimed, "We were very close, but Netanyahu’s narrow-mindedness aborted an agreement."
Ignoring the fact that Hamas declared war on Israel, massacring 1,200 civilians, Abu Marzouk said, "The cease-fire needs to be permanent and fixed." He also claimed that Netanyahu's end goal is a deal which would allow a Rafah operation at its conclusion.
In November, Abu Marzouk claimed that civilians, who comprised the majority of October 7 massacre victims, were "exempt" from the massacre and that no civilians were killed. In December, he said that the massacre had accomplished "many goals" for Gaza residents, since, "Everyone is talking about a Palestinian state."
The Israeli official who spoke to the Times backed Abu Marzouk's statements, claiming that Hamas was close to agreeing to a deal a few days ago, but Netanyahu's promise that Israel will invade Rafah with or without a deal pushed Hamas to toughen its stance so as to ensure that its last four battalions, currently ensconced in Rafah, would remain untouched.
Netanyahu also noted, "It is Hamas that is holding up the release of our hostages. We are working in every possible way to free the hostages; this is our top priority."
Hamas, which breached the terms of the November 2023 deal multiple times, is now seeking guarantees that Israel will keep its end of the deal, and not backtrack after only part of the deal has been implemented.
The Israeli official also commented that Israel and Hamas are now playing a "blame game."
Meanwhile, two US officials told the Times that both sides are reviewing the details of the recent proposals, and that the talks are not necessarily at an impasse.