Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed media reports citing diplomats who said Netanyahu had no interest in a hostage deal.
"Leaks of information and false briefings by unknown persons in the media create a false impression of the public," the Prime Minister's office told the public television channel "Can".
Earlier, the Israeli daily "Haaretz" reported that the heads of the secret services "Mossad" and "Shin Bet" have returned to Israel from Cairo from indirect negotiations with "Hamas" for Gaza. In the negotiations, Egypt, Qatar and the USA acted as mediators.
There is still no official information about the outcome of the negotiations. "Haaretz" however, reports that the negotiations have not made any progress. A non-Israeli diplomatic source said Netanyahu's demands sabotaged the talks and showed he was not interested in a deal for the hostages.
Netanyahu's cabinet accuses "Hamas" for the failure of the negotiations, which introduced dozens of changes to the agreement at the last minute, effectively invalidating it. Similarly, at the end of July and from "Hamas" accused Netanyahu of setting new conditions for a truce.
The cabinet statement also attacked Netanyahu's critics: "Anyone who suggests that we give in to the demands of "Hamas" in order to get applause in the TV studios is harming the chances of freeing the hostages and bringing us back to reality from October 6."