Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at a press conference on Saturday morning, ahead of the resumption of talks in Cairo, that "if there is a political will, it will be possible to reach a ceasefire in Gaza."
"There are some gaps in the negotiations, and we are working on closing them," he added. "They are making ongoing efforts to renew the talks and reach an agreement."
These comments came hours after Hamas officials pointed the finger at Israel for delaying the conclusion of negotiations.
Members of the Egyptian mediation team in Doha told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that they were facing "extreme difficulties" in the ceasefire negotiations.
They described the negotiations as a "mine that is being dismantled."
The Israeli veto
According to the mediators, there are two major issues causing consternation. The first is the issue of keeping Israeli troops on the border with Egypt, and the second is the Israeli "veto" on which Palestinian prisoners are supposed to be released.
The prisoner issue seems to have multiple factors to it, with the Egyptian mediators accusing Israel of being incredibly coy about which prisoner would be blocked from release, refusing to give their names ahead of time.
One notable Palestinian prisoner that Hamas has demanded released was Marwan Barghouti, former head of a militant faction of the ruling Fatah party. He was sentenced in 2004 by an Israeli court to five cumulative life sentences and 40 years in prison for terrorist acts in which five Israelis were murdered and many injured.
On August 12, a prisoner released as part of negotiations in November shot a 60-year-old Israeli man in a terror attack, Hamas claimed responsibility.
Another element is that Israel is seeking released prisoners to leave the Palestinian Territories, the mediators told Al-Akhbar, effectively requiring that they be exiled from the territory.
The mediators believe that Israel must show real commitment to negotiations by refraining from military action and escalation during negotiations.
They are also heavily concerned that Israeli actions are escalating regional tensions and that this has an effect on the Gaza Strip.
Despite these concerns, mediators and diplomats have been putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement and bring the fighting to an end, both to prevent wider escalation and also to allow an increase in humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.