The indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza war were "not going well," Hamas sources told dpa.
"The Israelis are not interested in a ceasefire. They are only interested in the hostage issue and not in a ceasefire," the sources said.
There is no official information on the current status of negotiations from either side in the conflict.
After talks in Cairo, Hamas representatives left the Egyptian capital on Monday for consultations with their leadership.
Since Israel and Hamas do not speak to each other directly, the United States, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators.
The Wall Street Journal reported on a compromise proposal put forward by the US, citing Arab mediators.
The report said the proposal would involve Hamas releasing 40 of the more than 100 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for 900 Palestinian prisoners, during a six-week ceasefire.
Israel should in turn allow up to 150,000 displaced Palestinians to return to the north of the coastal area.
Hamas stressed that officials were studying the latest proposal from the mediators and that they would "inform the mediators of its response once discussions are completed."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile reiterated that the army would destroy all Hamas battalions in Gaza, despite the major drawdown of ground troops announced on Sunday.
Netanyahu said this applied to Rafah, the last major population centre in Gaza that has yet to see a ground assault.
"No power in the world will stop us," the told recruits at a military base near Tel Aviv, according to his office.
Many of Israel's allies, including the United States, oppose such an operation in Rafah due to the harm civilians could be subjected to. More than 1 million Palestinians have moved into Rafah, having fled there after being displaced by fighting in other parts of the strip.
On Tuesday, The US government said Israel was yet to present a convincing plan to protect the civilian population in the event of a ground assault in Rafah.
US President Joe Biden's security adviser Jake Sullivan said in Washington that he had not yet seen "a credible and executable plan" plan for the evacuation and resettlement of the people in Rafah. He said Israel had not detailed how the civilians could be housed and provided with medical care.
A victory over Hamas would not only be a victory over the terrorist organization itself, but also over "Iran's axis of evil, which wants to destroy us," Netanyahu said.
"Everyone in the Middle East, and beyond, is sitting on the spectator stands and watching who will win on this field, Israel or Iran and its offshoots."
Netanyahu had said on Monday that there "is a date" for Israeli ground troops to enter Rafah, but did not name it.
Sunday marked six months since Israel launched its devastating air and ground war on the Gaza Strip in response to the massacre by Hamas and other militant groups that left some 1,200 people dead and more than 200 others taken hostage.
