The ceasefire was broken over details of further exchanges of hostages and prisoners, Israeli officials say.

The fragile truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed Friday morning as the adversaries failed to find common ground for further exchanges of hostages and prisoners, according to two Israeli officials involved in the talks.

Israel and Hamas publicly blamed each other for military activities that violated the week-long ceasefire. Israel said Hamas had fired a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel, while Hamas said Israeli troop operations had resumed in northern Gaza. But the two Israeli officials said the real reason the pause ended was a stalemate in negotiations over the prisoner swap.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had hoped for at least one more round of exchanges, said these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. But Hamas had begun demanding that more Palestinians be released from Israeli prisons, including some prominent prisoners, in exchange for the remaining hostages held in Gaza, including Israeli soldiers.

Mr. Netanyahu had already told his cabinet this week that a return to military operations in Gaza was inevitable, the two officials said. On Thursday, after meeting with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Mr. Netanyahu said: “I have vowed to destroy Hamas. Nothing will stop us.”

Mr Netanyahu, who leads a largely right-wing coalition of parties, is facing intense pressure from the Israeli public and of his political allies to continue the war with Hamas. Aides close to the prime minister have said that his political future depends largely on his ability to achieve a decisive victory over Hamas.

At the same time, international pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to end the war, which health authorities in the territory say has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis and killed more than 13,000 people in Gaza.

International negotiators involved in the hostage and prisoner exchange negotiations had hoped that the longer the silence between Israel and Gaza lasted, the harder it would be for Israel to resume its military campaign and expand into southern Gaza , where senior Hamas leaders were expected to continue their military campaign. hide.

The negotiations – involving top officials from Qatar, the United States, Egypt and Israel – focused on a formula in which each hostage held by Hamas would be exchanged for roughly three Palestinian prisoners or detainees held by Israel.

During the ceasefire, 105 people taken hostage by Hamas attackers during their October 7 attack on Israel were exchanged for 240 Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons, many of whom had not been convicted of crimes. The hostages released by Hamas were largely women and children, who were considered the highest priority for release by Israeli negotiators.

In all, about 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas, and those who remain in Gaza are largely men between the ages of 18 and 50, Israeli officials involved in the talks said.

For the next round of exchanges, Israeli negotiators have pushed for a broader definition of who qualifies as a citizen, the two Israeli officials said. Hamas has taken the position through mediators that most Israeli men over the age of 18 qualify as soldiers and has demanded a higher price for their exchange, the officials said. Israel has said male hostages over the age of 50 should be classified as civilians.