The most difficult issues involved in the hostage negotiations remain to be resolved, but talks are not believed to have come to an end, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday.
"By nature of these types of negotiations, when you get down to the end, when you make progress, the issues that remain are often the hardest ones. You don't usually solve the hardest issues first, you solve them last," Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
"And so some of the remaining issues that need to be resolved. These are some of the most difficult ones and areas where there is the most disagreement between Israel and Hamas. We do think it's possible to bridge those differences."
However, Miller wouldn't confirm "any particular conversations" that are still ongoing.
"We believe that there is an ability to continue to pursue the release of hostages and that's what we're going to continue to do," Miller said.