The United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he reduced short talks to reach a truce in the War of Israel against Gaza, after Hamas’ last proposal showed “a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire”.
Witkoff made this announcement in a statement on Thursday, just a few hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel also recalled his Qatar negotiation team in the middle of the last diplomatic wave.
Hamas, which has repeatedly accused Israel of having blocked a cease-fire agreement, said that it had been surprised by Witkoff’s remarks.
“The movement affirms its way of continuing negotiations and engaging in a way that helps overcome obstacles and leads to a permanent cease-fire agreement,” said Hamas in a statement released on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Hamas had submitted its last response to a ceasefire frame launched by Qatar, Egypt and the United States mediators. Netanyahu’s office has confirmed receipt of the response and said it was being examined. Neither sides revealed the content.
Israel and Hamas are faced with increasing international pressure to reach an agreement while the humanitarian and hunger crisis in the territory continues to deteriorate strongly in the middle of serious restrictions from Israel at the entrance to the aid.
At least 115 people have died of malnutrition since Israel launched his war against Gaza in October 2023, mainly in recent weeks, because the United Nations and the aid agencies have warned that the residents of Gaza faced mass famine.
“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not seem to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” said Witkoff in a statement.
“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the inhabitants of Gaza,” said Witkoff, without developing.
Witkoff, a businessman without official diplomatic experience before his appointment, said that the United States remained “resolved” by looking for the end of the war in Gaza, adding that it was “a pity that Hamas acted in this selfish way”.
The current proposal under discussion would have been a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 live captives and the remains of 18 others. In turn, the Palestinians imprisoned by Israel would be released and the aid supplies would be increased while the two parties held negotiations on a sustainable truce.
The details of the current collage point were not immediately clear, but those responsible on both sides previously highlighted a dispute over what would happen following any new ceasefire.
Israel has repeatedly declared that she planned to deploy the long -term army in Gaza, looking for a complete defeat of Hamas, despite warnings that such an objective is unrealistic.
Earlier this month, the Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz would have stated a plan for the forced transfer of Palestinians to a “humanitarian city” in Gaza, a maximalist approach which, according to criticism, would violate international law.
The Israeli government has also faced internal pressures on the plan, in the midst of fears of proving the cease-fire negotiations and blocking the release of captives still held in Gaza.
Washington, DC, Shihab Rattansi’s reports of Tel Aviv Tribune said that it remained vague if the American withdrawal of talks was a “negotiation tactic”.
“It is a very severely written tweet, speaking of” alternative options for a more stable environment for the inhabitants of Gaza, “he said.
“We know that Trump simply did not exclude ethnic cleaning, supposedly” self-eviction “, in his words Palestinians.”
“Right now, we simply do not know if it is a negotiation position or the end of negotiations,” said Ratansi.
The War of Israel in Gaza killed at least 59,587 Palestinians since its start following the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed at least 1,139 people.
This week, more than 100 aid groups blamed Israel restrictions on the aid of “mass famine” in the enclave.