The Hamas terrorist organization on Monday decided to withdraw from talks on a hostages-for-cease-fire-and-terrorists-release deal with Israel, according to sources cited by the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet.

After consulting with other terrorist groups, Hamas postponed the return of its delegation to Cairo and suspended its participation "pending the results of the mediators' efforts," the report said.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed added that the Hamas leadership "received communications from the Egyptian side demanding no military escalation and that it be given the opportunity to contain the crisis."

The talks reportedly collapsed over the weekend as Hamas is sticking to its demand to end the war, which is unacceptable to Israel. Jerusalem's latest offer to Hamas was described as "extraordinarily generous" by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a recent visit to the region.

On Sunday afternoon, Hamas terrorists fired 14 mortar shells from the Rafah area of southern Gaza at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, killing four Israeli soldiers and seriously wounding at least three others.

U.S. President Joe Biden has dispatched Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns to the Middle East for emergency diplomatic shuttling to save the truce talks — meeting with mediators in Cairo and Doha before a session with Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Monday.

The trip to Israel's capital was part of a last-ditch effort by the CIA chief to salvage a hostage deal as the Israeli Defense Forces prepares for a major military offensive against the last Hamas bastion of Rafah.

In the strongest signal yet that the operation is moving forward, the IDF on Sunday began calling on residents of the city's eastern areas to evacuate to a new, expanded humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned of "worrying signs" that Hamas has no intention of agreeing to any deal with the Jewish state.

Hamas' refusal "means action in Rafah and the entire Strip in the near future," Gallant said.

This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate