CAIRO: The Israeli negotiating team, headed by the chief of Israel’s Mossad, went to Cairo and came back to Israel, but sources within Israeli media are saying that they are nowhere closer to a deal, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reports.

Leaks from meetings with security officials say that Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, believe that Netanyahu’s hardened stance is the reason why a deal is not coming about, she reports.

According to Salhut, Netanyahu’s office released a statement to the Israeli public broadcaster, saying that these leaks are false and that Netanyahu did not change anything within the Israeli proposal that has been on the table for weeks, accusing Hamas of adding what they’re calling dozens of new additions to the proposal.

Israel is on maximum alert after the assassinations of multiple individuals, including Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh, who was the negotiator for Hamas, and some are saying that Israel is not serious about these negotiations, if they are willing to assassinate the negotiator on the other side, Salhut says.