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Months of on-and-off negotiations have failed to bring an end to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip.

According to CCTV News, a US official said that high-level talks in Cairo, Egypt on issues such as a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of detained persons failed to reach a final agreement.

However, the lower-level working group will remain in Cairo and continue talks with the mediator to bridge the remaining differences. Before the ceasefire negotiations moved to Cairo, representatives of Qatar, Egypt, the United States and Israel held a round of negotiations in Doha, Qatar. At that time, John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, described the restarted ceasefire negotiations as "a promising start". However, as the ceasefire negotiations have been slow to make progress, the outside world has doubts about whether the latest US efforts can successfully end the conflict that has lasted for more than 10 months.

On August 25, local time, in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued, and displaced people took refuge in a tent camp. Photo/IC photo

Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza Strip

This round of negotiations in Cairo began on August 22 and lasted until August 25. Officials participating in the talks included US Central Intelligence Agency Director Burns and Israeli Intelligence and Secret Service (Mossad) Director David Baniya. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) delegation listened to the briefings of Egyptian and Qatari mediators and did not directly participate in the negotiations.

Two Egyptian security sources said ceasefire talks in Cairo had yielded no agreement, with neither Hamas nor Israel agreeing to several compromise measures proposed by mediators.

The key sticking point in the ceasefire brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on a military presence in the Philadelphia Corridor, a 14.5-kilometer strip of land on the southern border between Egypt and Gaza. Netanyahu believes that without Israeli supervision, Hamas will quickly use the area to smuggle weapons and rearm itself.

Other sources said that Israel has requested to keep troops stationed along the strategic "Netzarim Corridor" in Gaza and set up checkpoints to prevent Hamas militants from entering the north from the south. The Netzarim Corridor is a narrow east-west strip of land connecting the northern and southern Gaza Strip. After occupying the area in the new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israeli army does not allow Palestinians to travel freely from north to south.

Although the mediators proposed a number of alternatives during the talks to replace the Israeli military presence in the Philadelphia Corridor and the "Netzarim Corridor," none of them was accepted by the parties.

There was also no agreement on the release of detainees or Netanyahu's condition that displaced Palestinians returning to northern Gaza must undergo weapons inspections.

A person familiar with the negotiations said that Netanyahu and the Israeli negotiating team had a dispute over whether Israeli troops must remain stationed on the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian border. People familiar with the matter said that Netanyahu also harshly criticized the Israeli negotiating team led by Baniya, believing that they made too many concessions in the ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas demands Israel abide by July ceasefire

After several days of negotiations, no breakthrough was made on issues where Israel and Hamas have obvious differences. Netanyahu was accused of making new demands and not taking the work of reaching a ceasefire agreement seriously. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that even if an agreement is reached, military operations in the Gaza Strip will continue until Hamas is completely defeated.

Netanyahu has been under pressure from families of Israeli detainees to reach a deal, and critics have accused him of blocking a ceasefire for his own political purposes.

"Netanyahu's constant addition of new conditions to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is a 'delaying tactic'," said Rami Khoury, a distinguished researcher at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. "Continuous meetings to discuss new ideas and new concessions will not lead to any progress in the ceasefire agreement. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are aware of this."

The US role has also been questioned, with Hamas saying the US is not mediating in "good faith". Curry added that the US is Israel's sponsor, military aid provider and diplomatic protector, so it cannot be a credible negotiator or mediator.

After learning that the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement in Cairo had reached a deadlock again, the families of Israeli detainees issued a statement on August 24 local time, saying that it was the new conditions proposed by Netanyahu that hindered the signing of the ceasefire agreement. The families of Israeli detainees almost regarded the negotiations in Cairo, Egypt as their last chance, "either reaching an agreement or the situation escalating."

At present, the Hamas negotiation delegation has left Cairo after meeting with the mediating parties Egypt and Qatar and listening to the results of the negotiations. On August 25, local time, Izzat Rishik, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, issued a statement demanding that Israel abide by the ceasefire plan received in July based on the proposals made by US President Biden and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

The statement said that the Hamas delegation stressed its position that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire, Israel's complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the free return of Gaza residents to their homes and rescue and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of detained persons.

Over the past few months, the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have gone through many twists and turns, but have failed to reach an agreement on ending Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and releasing Israeli detainees. According to data released by the Palestinian Gaza Strip Health Department on August 25, local time, since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October last year, Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and injured more than 93,000.

This round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict has repeatedly worsened the situation of about 2.3 million Gaza residents. Almost all of them are homeless and can only live in tents or shelters built next to the ruins. Many people are malnourished and diseases are also spreading.

Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, wrote on social media that there is no time to waste and that ceasefire negotiations in Cairo are crucial to saving civilian lives, easing regional tensions and accelerating efforts to address the urgent needs of Gaza's long-suffering people.

Despite the differences, a senior U.S. official described the talks as "constructive," saying all sides were working to reach a "final, enforceable agreement." Lower-level working groups will continue to meet with mediators in Cairo in the coming days to further resolve remaining differences and details.

Beijing News reporter Luan Ruoxi

Edited by Bai Shuang, Proofread by Liu Yue