On Sunday evening, Hamas and Netanyahu traded accusations suggesting that a deal may still be far off.

Hamas suggested it had rejected the proposal.
Hamas said the latest proposal didn’t include a permanent ceasefire and introduced new conditions on the exchange of prisoners, among other issues.

The group blamed Netanyahu for “obstructing” a deal from being reached and reiterated its desire to enact a three-phase proposal presented by US President Joe Biden, which would include the release of hostages from Gaza, a “full and complete ceasefire,” and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. It called on mediators to “compel the occupation to implement” that plan.

Netanyahu shot back, saying Israel will not be “giving in to Hamas’s demand” to end the war in Gaza as a condition of a deal.
“The Prime Minister has strongly insisted on this fundamental demand, which is vital to achieving the goals of the war, and Hamas changed its position,” a statement from his office said Sunday.

“The Prime Minister will continue to work on advancing a deal that will maximize the number of living hostages and which will enable the achieving of all of the war objectives.”

At his news conference Monday, Blinken said he could not “speculate on exactly what Hamas’s intentions are,” but expected to learn more in his conversations with Egyptian and Qatari officials on Tuesday.

“We’ve seen public statements, but we’ve seen public statements before that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is,” he said.

Other key sticking points in talks include Israel’s insistence on controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt, having a veto over which Palestinian prisoners are released and preventing the movement of armed men from southern Gaza to the north.