US President Joe Biden said a ceasefire in Gaza was now unlikely to happen by Monday, adding that a shooting incident at an aid point would likely complicate negotiations, AFP reports.

Biden said that the United States was checking “competing versions” of the incident in which the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said Israeli troops shot dead 104 people.

“Hope springs eternal,” Biden told reporters when asked about the ceasefire timing, as he left the White House for a pre-election trip to Texas to visit the US-Mexico border.

“I was on the telephone with people in the region […] Probably not by Monday, but I’m hopeful.”

The US president said he did not yet have clarity on what happened in Gaza City earlier today, when one of the worst single incidents of the nearly five-month bombardment occurred.

“We’re checking that right now. There are two competing versions of what happened, I don’t have an answer yet,” Biden told reporters as he headed to his helicopter.

Asked if he was worried whether it would complicate the delicate negotiations for a ceasefire, Biden replied: “I know it will.”