Netanyahu, Trump Point to Progress in Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, but Witkoff Says Hamas Stance Is ‘Unacceptable’

Prime Minister Netanyahu is indicating Monday that a deal for a Gaza cease-fire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages could be close at hand. President Trump a day earlier also hinted at progress in talks to end a war that on Wednesday will mark its 600th day.Yet, a Reuters report Monday claiming Hamas has agreed to a deal was quickly shot down by Mr. Trump’s special Mideast envoy, Steven Witkoff. “What I have seen is completely unacceptable,” he told CNN and Axios, adding that Hamas is yet to accept his proposed deal for a phased release of 10 hostages in exchange for a two-month cease-fire, which would lead to talks on a permanent ending of the war.Israel is indicating that progress is being made in the diplomacy being led by Mr. Witkoff. “Release of the hostages is our top priority,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video message posted on social media Monday evening. “I hope very much that we will have good news today, and if not today, then tomorrow. We’re not giving up.”Speaking to reporters Sunday, Mr. Trump expressed hope that a deal can be made. “I think we could have some good news on the Iran front,” he said. “Likewise, with Hamas, on Gaza. We want to see if we can stop that — and Israel, we’ve been talking to them, and we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly” as possible.Reuters cited Monday an unidentified Palestinian official who said that Hamas has agreed to a proposal from Mr. Witkoff, according to which it would release 10 hostages in return for a 70-day cease-fire. The deal would also see the release of hundreds of Arabs in Israeli prisons, a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and an Israeli agreement in advance to end the war.Hamas holds 58 hostages in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are alive. The Reuters source said that Israel has rejected what he claimed was an American proposal agreed to by Hamas. Mr. Witkoff, though, quickly rejected the report, saying Hamas is blocking a deal. “Israel will agree to a temporary cease-fire-hostage deal that would see half of the living and half of the deceased return and lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent cease-fire, which I have agreed to preside over,” Mr. Witkoff said. “That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it.”For now, Israel is increasing its military pressure on Hamas. Last week the terror organization’s Gaza chief, Mohammed Sinwar, was reportedly killed under the rubble of a Khan Yunis hospital along with three top commanders. While Israel is yet to officially confirm Sinwar’s death, intelligence sources say that a mere handful of top echelon Hamas commanders are still alive. The Israel Defense Force called on civilians Monday to evacuate Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Yunis, urging them to move to a crowded tent center at nearby Muwassi. Government officials say the intensified war is designed to increase pressure for hostage release, and to end Hamas’s control over Gaza. Hamas published on Monday a dramatic video it claimed was a young girl running through a burning Khan Yunis building, and a picture of a mother mourning the dead bodies of nine children went viral on social networks. The IDF said it couldn’t verify an incident in which nine children were killed in an air raid. Names of the children were not released.A new American initiative to distribute Gaza humanitarian aid was delayed on Monday for “logistical” reasons after the executive director of a Swiss-based group that leads the effort, Jake Wood, announced his resignation. The plan violates “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” Mr. Wood of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said.His words repeated almost verbatim a Friday statement by the United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, who demanded that aid distribution be overseen by the world body. Israel says the UN has failed to prevent Hamas from using aid for the purpose of maintaining its grip over the Gaza population. As anti-Hamas protests intensify in the Strip, and Gazans demand the terror organization release hostages and end the war, Europeans are ratcheting up pressure on Israel. One of Israel’s top supporters on the Continent, Germany, is joining the critics’ chorus. “I can frankly no longer understand the goal of what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip,” Chancellor Merz said Monday. “To harm the civilian population in such a way as has increasingly been the case in recent days can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism.”

Netanyahu, Trump Point to Progress in Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, but Witkoff Says Hamas Stance Is ‘Unacceptable’

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