Talks opened in Cairo on Friday but Israel's delegation returned home in the evening. Reports suggested that negotiations would continue "at a distance" and that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold late-night talks with the delegation, senior ministers and intelligence chiefs.

Hamas says it has rejected an Israeli proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, instead of proceeding to phase two, throwing the Middle East peace process into uncertainty just hours before the first stage of the agreement is set to expire.