The meetings had ended for the time being and an impasse had been reached. However, efforts are being made to persuade both sides to continue the discussions. "We still believe that an agreement is possible," Kirby said confidently.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as saying that the negotiators want to resume talks early next week in Cairo or in the Qatari capital Doha. As Israel and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas are not negotiating directly with each other, Egypt, Qatar and the USA are acting as mediators.

Fruitless negotiations in Cairo
Egypt now wants to use the USA to persuade the two parties to the conflict to be more willing to compromise. A spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday after the latest round of negotiations in Cairo, which failed to produce results, that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry had emphasized in a joint telephone call how important it was to "urge the parties to show flexibility".

All necessary efforts must be made to reach an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

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