JERUSALEM

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said Thursday that “it’s a mistake” to say cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have collapsed. 

"There are still conversations going on, there is still back and forth, the differences are being narrowed," Lew said at a conference for Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).

"It is not yet the case that it is broken down," the diplomat said, adding that pressure must be practiced on all parties to keep the cease-fire negotiations alive.

The US diplomat said reaching a deal before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, due next week, "is very important" but more important to get it done "whenever it can be achieved."

Early on Thursday, Hamas confirmed that negotiations were still ongoing for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News, citing a well-placed Egyptian source, also said negotiations were still ongoing to reach a truce in Gaza.

According to the source, a Hamas delegation to the talks left Cairo for consultations and the truce talks will be resumed next week.

According to Israeli media, mediators seek to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas on the details of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as the prisoners to be released from both sides.

Hamas is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

Israel has since pounded the Gaza Strip, killing at least 30,800 people and injuring nearly 73,000 amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara