CAIRO — Hamas said on Sunday that it rejects new Israeli conditions put forward in Gaza cease-fire talks, casting further doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest U.S.-backed effort to end the 10-month-old war, Reuters reported. In a statement, Hamas said its delegation had left Cairo Sunday evening after meeting with mediators from Egypt and Qatar to discuss the results of the latest round of negotiations.

Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the group's Oct. 7 al-Aqsa Flood operation in southern Israel that triggered the war.

Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5 km-long (nine-mile) stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

Hamas said Israel has backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the Corridor and put forward other new conditions, including the screening of displaced Palestinians as they return to the enclave's more heavily populated north when the ceasefire begins.

"We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group's al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.

Hamdan also said Hamas has handed to mediators its response to the latest proposal, saying U.S. talk of an imminent deal is false.

In July, Hamas accepted a proposal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source has told Reuters.

Netanyahu had then insisted that for a cease-fire to take place, Israeli troops need to remain present in Gaza, like in the West Bank. However, Hamas has repeatedly insisted that that is out of the question.

Hamas reiterated on Sunday, in a statement, “its readiness to implement the agreed terms in a way that protects the interests of its people and halts the ongoing aggression against them.”

The Hamas delegation also emphasized that ”any agreement must include a permanent cease-fire, a full withdrawal from Gaza, the freedom for residents to return to their areas, as well as provisions for relief, reconstruction, and a serious prisoner exchange deal.”