A senior Egyptian official said Thursday that the third round of Israel-Hamas indirect talks over the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit have ceased with no results and without setting a date for renewing the negotiations.

This comes, according to the source, as a result of both sides’ insistence on their respective positions.

The official told the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat that Egypt will try to find new solutions in the near future that would facilitate the completion of a deal on Shalit. The official also said that Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, who came to Cairo for the negotiations, did not go into details of the talks and just discussed the main principles.

“Each of the sides tried to achieve the best possible outcome for itself since each party needs to answer to its public and its demands,” the Egyptian official said, stressing that “each side must make concessions.”

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