US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has been directed by the Trump administration to inform the hostage families that Israel’s war extension plan in Gaza is pointless and that he does not support or endorse it.
This comes at a time when the Trump administration has said it would pursue direct talks with Hamas over a ceasefire proposal and hostage deal after it successfully secured a peace deal with Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as part of his multinational official visit, where he is likely going to sign defence and energy deals.
This has particularly raised eyebrows in Israel as Trump has dropped all conditions over Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel for the upcoming deal.
It's important to mention that the Saudis refused to normalise relations with Israel for its ongoing Gaza invasion.
The development is also significant because Netanyahu is now feeling sidelined as the ongoing rift between the two leaders has widened in recent weeks.
Reports on Monday said that Witkoff told the families that the US “wants to return the hostages, but Israel is not ready to end the war.”
“Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made,” Witkoff said, according to the report, which cited sources who attended the meeting.
“Still, there is currently a window of opportunity that we hope Israel and all the mediators will take advantage of. We are putting pressure on all the mediators and doing everything to return the hostages,” he reportedly said.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the families of hostages have said that they have never heard such kind of criticism of the Israeli government’s policy from Witkoff before.
The report also quoted senior Israeli officials as issuing a warning: “If there are no agreements by the end of [US President Donald] Trump’s visit to the Middle East, Israel will launch a ground operation, and it will take several weeks until the next ‘exit point.’
Once we have begun the intensified operation, we won’t agree to quickly halt it. Hamas will not determine the timeline.”
Echoing Witkoff’s reported remarks, however, the officials agreed that there was currently “a window of opportunity” and stated that the mediators should make this clear to Hamas.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, was said to be growing increasingly frustrated with the US approach to Iran amid the nuclear talks and after Washington struck a deal with the Houthis, agreeing to end its intensive bombing campaign in return for an end to the Iran-backed group’s maritime attacks.
Under the terms being discussed, according to reports, Iran would limit stockpile size and centrifuge types and dilute, export, or seal its 60 per cent uranium stock under unprecedented International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scrutiny in exchange for substantial sanctions relief.
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