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March 7 (UPI) -- Hamas temporarily withdrew from four days of Gaza cease-fire negotiations on Thursday saying it would only agree to a deal over Israeli hostages in return for a permanent cessation in the fighting. Hamas said its delegation had left the Cairo talks to consult with the group's leadership and that the negotiations would resume next week.
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"The Hamas delegation left Cairo today to consult with the movement's leadership, as negotiations and efforts continue to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and bring relief aid to our Palestinian people," Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas sources told CNN that the sticking points to reaching a deal were that the group wanted a permanent cease-fire, people displaced to other parts of Gaza to be able to go back to their homes and an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
The breakdown of the talks sharply dimmed hopes of a deal in time for the start of Ramadan at the weekend which the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had consistently said was necessary to prevent the conflict from escalating.
But Al Jazeera quoted a Hamas official as blaming Israel for the breakdown in the talks, saying it had "thwarted" all efforts by mediators to reach a deal.
On Wednesday, the United States said that it believed a Gaza cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas was still achievable despite roadblocks in the negotiations.
Calling the obstacles to an agreement "not insurmountable", State Department spokesman Mathew Miller told a press briefing in Washington on Wednesday that the administration continued to believe a cease-fire deal can be reached.
"A deal is in the interest of Israel, it's in the interest of the Palestinian people and it's in the interest of the broader region. So we're going to continue to push for one," he said.
Miller refused to be drawn on what the sticking points blocking a breakthrough were but denied the talks were at an impasse, insisting that they were "ongoing."
Israel, however, had "put forward a serious proposal on the table and it is for Hamas to accept it," Miller said of the proposed six-week cease-fire and an Israeli-hostages-for-Palestinian-prisoners swap.
"It's also for Hamas to engage in good faith and show that they actually want to get a deal and we will continue to engage in good faith on our behalf and continue to try to get a deal over the finish line."
Asked if anything he had seen in recent days might indicate Hamas did not want a deal, Miller said it was difficult to ever say that a terrorist organization that attacks innocent civilians was "acting wholly in good faith," but stressed that it was a negotiation, the details of which he would not be revealing.
He also made no mention of Ramadan, which begins Saturday, the de facto deadline for a cease-fire deal to be struck after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent shudders through Western capitals by pledging to launch an all-out ground offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah by March 10.
