Netanyahu appeared to dampen the increased global expectations for a major breakthrough at a weekly cabinet meeting. Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar had expressed optimism after two days of talks in Doha last week.

“We negotiate, we don’t always just give,” Netanyahu said in a social media post.

The Biden administration is trying to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas over the flow of aid through border crossings and the number and identity of Israeli hostages and security prisoners to be released. On Friday, President Joe Biden said the parties were “closer than ever” to an agreement, but a senior Hamas official told the BBC on condition of anonymity that there had been no progress.

Netanyahu has repeatedly demanded that the remnants of the battered militant group Hamas should not play a role in the future of Gaza, a demand that Hamas has often rejected. Any deviation from that stance would endanger his fragile alliance with Israel’s far right and could threaten his hold on the prime minister’s office.