THREE days of international negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages ended today without a breakthrough, Egyptian officials said.

The talks closed less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline for a deal, and followed Human Rights Watch saying that Israeli troops’ killing of people queueing for aid last week was part of a “decades-long pattern.”

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker an agreement for Hamas to release up to 40 hostages in return for a month-long ceasefire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners and Israel allowing an influx of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.

Two Egyptian officials said today that the latest round of discussions had ended, but Hamas had put forward a proposal that mediators would discuss with Israel in the coming days.

Hamas has refused to release all of the estimated 100 hostages it holds, plus the remains of about 30 more, unless Israel ends its military offensive, withdraws its troops from the territory and releases a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the negotiations were ongoing, adding that the Islamist group was “open to proposals and initiatives that are consistent with its position calling for a ceasefire, withdrawal, the return of the displaced, the entry of relief convoys and reconstruction.”

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected Hamas’s demands and repeatedly vowed to continue the war until the group is dismantled and all the hostages are freed. 

Israel did not send a delegation to the talks.

Meanwhile, Omar Shakir, Human Right Watch’s director for Israel and Palestine, accused Mr Netanyahu’s government of “using the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, which is a war crime.”

Israel has “a long track record of using unlawful, excessive force against Palestinians,” he said.

“The idea that people are being killed as they scavenge for meagre rations of food is just appalling.”

Last week, Israeli soldiers opened fire on starving Palestinians trying to get food from an aid convoy, killing at least 112 and injuring 750.

According to media reports, Israeli soldiers fired live rounds on Monday at Palestinians approaching an aid lorry in Gaza City’s Kuwait Square, wounding a number of them.

Israel launched its military onslaught on the Gaza Strip five months ago after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages. 

Since then, at least 30,631 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 21,000 women and children.