Slow progress Leaders still believe there is more to gain by fighting on

With the most recent round of talks over, hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza in the immediate future look to have been dashed.

- Jason Burke

Further discussions assisted by the US secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, were expected to be held this week, but it felt like a desperate attempt to keep the process alive.

It is not the first time there has been disappointment. A dozen or more rounds of mediated negotiations, a UN resolution, pressure from Washington and other powers, and much else have failed to push the leaders of Israel or Hamas to make the concessions needed to stop the war.

Days of argument over the exact parameters of any agreement obscure the fact that a deal can be done only when the most influential decision-makers on each side believe that the time is right.

Despite the immense damage done to Israel's international reputation and its relations with Washington, its 300-plus military fatalities and the seething anger in the occupied West Bank, Benjamin Netanyahu seems convinced that more is to be gained from continuing the offensive than halting it.