Top Biden administration negotiators visited the Middle East on Thursday for a last diplomatic drive before the U.S. election, though hopes were not high for quick agreements to pause the fighting.

With Israel battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, CIA Director William Burns, the top U.S. negotiator, met with officials in Cairo on Thursday, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. At the same time, President Joe Biden’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, and his de facto envoy on the conflict with Hezbollah, Amos Hochstein, held talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister.

The purpose of the meetings was to de-escalate the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, according to statements by some of the governments involved. But progress in cease-fire talks seems unlikely in the coming days, with the election looming Tuesday in the United States, and the various sides expressing a reluctance to compromise.

Officials briefed on Israel’s internal thinking, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, have said Netanyahu is waiting to see the election results before committing to a diplomatic trajectory. And Hamas has rejected proposals for a temporary truce in Gaza, saying it will only consider a permanent end to the fighting.

In Cairo, Burns and el-Sissi discussed “ways to push negotiations forward” toward a cease-fire and the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, a statement from el-Sissi’s office said. About 100 hostages captured in the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, remain in Gaza, and Israeli officials believe about two-thirds are still alive.

Earlier in the week, during talks among envoys from Israel, the United States and the two countries that mediate for Hamas, Egypt and Qatar, possible proposals emerged for an initial, temporary cease-fire in Gaza that would lead to the return of a small group of hostages.

Burns’ discussions in Cairo were expected to focus on refinements to those scaled-down proposals, which U.S. officials hope could prod Israel and Hamas to at least soften their positions and allow bargaining to resume in earnest after months of false starts.

Multiple versions of a potential Gaza proposal are still under discussion. One would release female hostages along with male captives over 50 in return for a set number of Palestinian prisoners, according to a person briefed on the discussions, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. In that version, the fighting in Gaza would pause for some time, but likely less than the six weeks envisioned in a previous deal negotiators had been pushing.

In another proposed deal, Hamas would release four hostages over roughly 10 days, according to a second official briefed on the negotiations. Gallant’s office said he and the U.S. envoys had discussed the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the efforts to free the hostages.