Officials in Israel familiar with the details of the negotiations on a cease-fire and hostage deal said that "the negotiations have not reached a dead-end", but stressed that it would continue only "if there are answers from Hamas that we can work with." The officials emphasized that "everyone is trying but at the same time as intense fighting". According to the Qatari newspaper " Al-Araby Al-Jadeed," international efforts to reach an agreement continue, and Egyptian sources said that "negotiations are expected to resume within days in Doha" (Itamar Eichner).


