NEW YORK, September 20. /TASS/. Israel and Palestine’s radical movement Hamas are unlikely to conclude the ceasefire deal before the term of incumbent US President Joe Biden expires, the The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper wrote citing high-ranking US officials.

"No deal is imminent," one official was quoted as saying. "I’m not sure it ever gets done."

According to the report, the sides are "in a wait-and-see mode" until after the upcoming US presidential election.

The newspaper also said that, firstly, the negotiators have been unable to agree on the ratio of Palestinian prisoners that Israel will have to release to have one Israel hostage freed by Hamas. Secondly, the recent series of gadget explosions in Lebanon and subsequent Israeli air strikes have made an all-out war in the Middle East more likely and, therefore, made diplomatic contacts with Hamas more difficult.

Another obstacle is the Palestinian movement’s "intrasingence," the paper’s sources say. According to WSJ sources, Hamas makes demands and then refuses to say "yes" after the US and Israel accept them. As a result, negotiators increasingly feel that the movement has no serious plans of concluding an agreement.

The newspaper emphasizes that the failure could harm Biden’s presidential legacy, so the ceasefire deal still remains a cornerstone in his administration’s Middle East policies. Washington believes that it would calm tensions in the region and pave the way to establish formal diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.

According to the Israeli authorities, around 100 people are still held hostage by Hamas.