WASHINGTON — Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, rejected Hamas’ proposed changes Saturday to a cease-fire framework with Israel, calling the terror group’s alternative “totally unacceptable.”
“I received the Hamas response to the United States’ proposal. It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward,” Witkoff posted on X. “Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.”
Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consider a permanent cease-fire after an initial release of hostages, The Times of Israel reported.
The terror group also wanted the US-backed 60-day cease-fire proposal to halt the Jewish State from resuming fighting if a permanent truce is not reached within the two-month timeline, according to the outlet.
They also seemed to be pushing for a longer timeline to conduct hostage and prisoner exchanges with Israel.
Without accepting the initial framework, Witkoff cautioned that a permanent cease-fire would remain out of reach.
“That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have … substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire,” he said.
The most recent cease-fire proposal pitched Thursday by Witkoff calls for a 60-day truce as well as the release of the 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 deceased captives.
It marked the second attempt by Witkoff to halt the fighting in Gaza.
The deal would also prompt the release of 125 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences in Israel and 1,111 more from Gaza who have been detained since the war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, following Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis.
Another 180 bodies of dead Palestinians in Israel would also be returned under the terms of the proposal.
Hamas official Bassem Naiem said Thursday that the terror group felt “screwed over” by the latest peace offering, a source told the Jerusalem Post.
Left unresolved in peace talks is whether the Israel Defense Forces will resume their ground assault in the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of the cease-fire period.
Netanyahu said previously that the IDF would “take over all areas” of Gaza, but admitted that avoiding “a situation of famine” for Palestinian civilians was essential.
“People simply won’t support us,” he said in a video posted on his Telegram page on May 22. “We won’t be able to complete the mission of victory.”
Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah had been brokering the talks between Hamas and Israel in Doha, Qatar, on behalf of the Trump administration, CNN reported.
A previous cease-fire proposal before President Trump took office resulted in a 42-day truce beginning Jan. 19.
That led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages — eight of whom were deceased — and nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees being sent back to Gaza.
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