Egypt Daily News – The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, informed mediators that Washington does not intend to force Israel to end the war in Gaza, amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on rejecting such an option.
The Times of Israel quoted officials as saying that the mediators had hoped the United States would move toward pressuring Israel, especially after statements by former U.S. President Donald Trump and several of his senior aides expressing a desire to end the war. This came after Hamas released the Israeli-American detainee Edan Alexander on Monday, according to the Palestinian Sama news agency.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported on Friday that the mediators felt deceived by both Washington and Tel Aviv, believing that the talk of U.S. intervention was merely aimed at securing the release of the American hostage.
Netanyahu has shown commitment only to a limited agreement involving a temporary ceasefire lasting about 45 days, beginning with Hamas releasing around ten hostages.
During his meeting with Witkoff, Netanyahu affirmed that Israel is prepared during this period to enter negotiations for a permanent end to the war, without offering any prior commitment, according to a senior Arab official.
However, Hamas firmly rejected this proposal, stating that it had previously agreed to release hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement reached in January, which was supposed to be followed by Israeli negotiations toward a permanent end to the war. But Netanyahu refused at the time to enter those talks, and the Israeli army resumed its offensive on Gaza on March 18.
As a result, Hamas insisted on a clear Israeli commitment to end the war before releasing more detainees.
Given the mutual hardline positions, Witkoff presented a compromise proposal aimed at reconciling the two sides, which includes the release of a limited number of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire lasting several weeks.
Trump’s envoy also tried to reassure Hamas, through mediators, that the United States would guarantee Israel’s participation this time in serious negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire.
The two officials confirmed that the gap between the parties remains wide, but mediators are continuing their efforts to push both sides toward reaching a settlement in the coming days.
