Hamas rejected the latest 60-day cease-fire proposal with Israel Saturday, stalling talks in Qatar while the terror group continues to push to maintain a larger swath of the Gaza Strip. Negotiations in Doha this week have centered on a US-backed Qatari proposal that would bring a temporary halt to the nearly three years of bloodshed and a release of some of the remaining hostages.

Hamas and Israel on Saturday accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a Gaza ceasefire agreement, nearly a week into indirect talks between the two sides to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory.

While UN and European officials hope that a cease-fire deal would help ease suffering among the Strip’s population, Israelis worry that as in the

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week did not result in a ceasefire deal for the Gaza war, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts