The White House is "actively working" to broker a ceasefire-hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Friday.
However, he emphasized that "we are not there yet" and stressed that "Hamas is the obstacle."
"Our backs are to it, and we are continuing to work on this as hard as we can to try to get a ceasefire deal in place before we leave office," Kirby added.
“It is because of Hamas throwing up obstacles or refusing to move on any of these details that we are still not at a conclusion,” he stated, adding, “We’re very, very close.”
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in indirect talks, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, in an attempt to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal, but little progress has been recorded so far.
The Prime Minister's Office announced on Tuesday evening that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to bring the Israeli negotiation team, which had been in Qatar over the past week, back to Israel for consultations.
Sources familiar with the negotiations said on Wednesday that the negotiating team returned to Israel in order to allow for decisions to be made regarding the next part of the negotiations.
The sources also said that Hamas is ignoring the pressure from the mediators, and Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar is presenting inflexible positions, "more than his brother Yahya."
Hamas, for its part, blamed Israel for the lack of progress, claiming Israel presented new conditions which delayed the deal.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)