Weeks of talks involving US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators failed to bring about a truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza ahead of Ramazan, AFP reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from desperate families of hostages as well as critics of his government, and has also come in for increasingly sharp criticism from key backer the United States.

Asked about the apparent friction between him and US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that “we have our agreements on the basic goals, but we also have disagreements on how to achieve them”.

“Ultimately, it’s Israel that has to decide. Our neck is on the line… I’m telling you that we’re not getting off the gas.” Netanyahu has steadfastly insisted since the start of the offensive that Israel will press on until Hamas has been eradicated.

But in an annual threat assessment report released on Monday, US national security officials suggested that goal would be difficult to achieve, predicting Israel would likely “face lingering armed resistance from Hamas for years to come”.