U.S. officials believe it is highly unlikely that a hostages-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists-release agreement between Israel and Hamas will be reached before the Nov. 5 presidential election, The Wall Street Journal report on Friday, citing staff from the White House, State Department and Pentagon.

“No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done,” one of the officials was quoted as saying.

The current flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah has further reduced the chances of a successful diplomatic effort to halt the war in the Gaza Strip. “There’s no chance now of it happening,” an anonymous official from an Arab state told the Journal.