09:27 AM EDT, 05/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Israeli shekel weakened to a seven-day low against the US dollar as North American trading got underway on Wednesday after local media reported the country's war cabinet disagreed over a Hamas demand to end war in a hostage deal.

USD/ILS was quoted at 3.7011, up 0.85%, after the Kan public broadcaster reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and allies believe that agreeing to such a demand would be "surrendering to Hamas." The US dollar was stronger across board but the shekel was underperforming other regional currencies.

At the same time on Tuesday, USD/ILS was quoted at 3.6578.

In the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the shekel weakened to as high as 3.92. The day before, the Bank of Israel's representative rate was set at 3.8630 shekels to the US dollar.

The central bank on Monday held its interest rate at 4.5% for the third successive time, in line with expectations.