International mediators and Hamas delegates are in Cairo today for talks to try to secure a pause in the Israeli offensive in Gaza ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, AFP reports.

Envoys from Hamas and the United States were expected to meet with Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a third day of negotiations over a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of remaining hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the flow of aid to Gaza.

Israeli delegates have so far stayed away from the negotiations, despite growing diplomatic pressure for a truce before Ramadan early next week.Israeli media reported that the country’s mediators boycotted the talks after Hamas failed to provide a list of living hostages.

Senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim told AFP however, that details on the prisoners “were not mentioned in any documents or proposals circulated during the negotiation process”.

Israel has said it believes 130 of the 250 captives taken by Hamas in the October attack that triggered the crisis remain in Gaza, but that 31 have been killed.