A round of high-level talks in Cairo aimed at securing a cease-fire and a hostage deal to at least temporarily end Israel's 10-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip ended Sunday without a final agreement, a U.S. official said.
In the coming days, talks will continue at lower levels to resolve remaining differences.
The official, speaking anonymously to discuss the progress of the talks, said low-level “working groups” would remain in Cairo to meet with mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt in the hope of resolving remaining differences.
The official called the recent talks, which began Thursday in Cairo, “constructive” and said all sides were working to “reach a final and implementable agreement.”
The talks were attended by CIA Director William Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. The Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not participate directly in the negotiations.
The talks ended after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exchanged heavy gunfire on Sunday morning.
Hezbollah said it struck an Israeli military intelligence facility near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, while Israel said its dozens of strikes were preemptive to prevent a larger attack. Neither side provided evidence.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack, which came in response to Israel's killing of a senior militant commander in Beirut last month, was delayed to allow talks on a cease-fire in Gaza and for Iran-backed groups to discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel at the same time.
“We now reserve the right to respond later” if the results of Sunday's attack are insufficient, Mr Nasrallah said, adding that allied Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran had not yet responded.
He told the Lebanese people: “At this point, the country can take a breather and relax.”
Iran's foreign minister said the country would take retaliatory measures over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“Iran's response to the Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran will be clear, measured and well-calculated,” Abbas Araghchi wrote in X. “We are not afraid of escalation, but we do not seek it either – unlike Israel.”
Israel and Hezbollah said they had targeted only military targets. Israel said Hezbollah had not struck any military targets, but one of its naval soldiers was killed and two others were wounded either by intercepting incoming fire or by shrapnel from one of them.
According to the groups, two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones heading for the center of the country.
“I repeat, this is not the end of the story,” he said.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said about 100 Israeli aircraft struck 270 targets, 90 percent of which were rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel.
He said they were investigating the percentage of incoming missiles and drones intercepted, but added that the “vast majority” were thwarted.
Hezbollah said the attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at several targets in Israel, as well as a “large number” of drones.
Lebanon's acting Economy Minister Amin Salam said after an emergency cabinet meeting that officials were “a little more optimistic” about de-escalation after both sides confirmed the operations had ended.
US President Joe Biden has been “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon,” according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant and ordered both U.S. carrier strike groups to remain in the region after a buildup of forces across the area in recent weeks.