As Israel and Hamas move closer to a ceasefire agreement, Israel says it wants to maintain troops in a southern corridor of the Gaza Strip — a condition that could derail the talks.

Diplomatic source says Israel has shown a willingness to be flexible in the negotiations, while Hamas digs in its heels while taking positions that preclude advancing an agreement

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

Israel's Gaza demand just derailed peace talks completely and the shocking proposal that Hamas rejected will surprise everyone.

Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza are stalling over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday.

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

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would send its negotiating team to Qatar, this after Hamas said it had issued a "positive response" to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire proposal.

We now have a deal that supposedly will get half of the living and half of the dead out," Netanyahu said in an interview on Newsmax show "The Record