Gaza ceasefire talks end without agreement

The latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks ended in Cairo without reaching an agreement, two Egyptian security sources said on August 25, as both the Palestinian Hamas movement and Israel failed to agree to some conditions set by mediators.

Both Hamas and Israeli delegations left Cairo on August 25 after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in the latest round of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a statement on the same day, senior Hamas member Izzat al-Rishq said that the Hamas delegation left the Egyptian capital after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators to hear about the results of the latest round of talks that just took place in Cairo.

CIA Director William Burns was among the US officials attending the talks in Cairo, along with the heads of Israel's intelligence and security agencies.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been pushing for months for talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Washington is still discussing with mediators new proposals to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas as well as the mechanism for implementing the ceasefire plan.

However, Israel's insistence on maintaining its military presence in the Philadelphia Corridor, a 14km stretch along the Egypt-Gaza border, has become a major sticking point.

Egypt has reaffirmed its firm stance on Israel's complete withdrawal from the Philadelphia Corridor and the Rafah border crossing area on the Gaza side.

US media previously reported that Cairo had also rejected proposals by Israel and the US to build Israeli watchtowers along the Philadelphia Corridor.