White House envoy may travel to Middle East Sunday in push to extend Gaza deal
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U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday that Israel will send a delegation to Doha or Cairo in the coming days to discuss the next steps of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal based on principles that the U.S. has agreed to with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
The big picture "If these talks go well, I might be going to the region on Sunday," Witkoff said at an American Jewish Committee event in Washington, D.C.
- Witkoff postponed by a few days his trip to the Middle East to discuss with Israel, Qatar and Egypt the possibility of extending the first phase of the deal, a U.S. source told Axios.
- A U.S. source said the reason for delaying Witkoff's trip is the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts on Russia-Ukraine.
Why it matters: The first phase of the hostage deal is expected to end on Saturday. Under the Gaza deal, the ceasefire will continue as long as second phase negotiations are taking place.
- If the first phase of the deal ends, the war in Gaza is likely to resume.
The latest: Hamas and Israel announced on Tuesday that they have reached an understanding that will end the crisis that erupted when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to delay the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners last Saturday.
- The parties agreed that Hamas will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Wednesday night — a day ahead of the original plan.
- In return, Israel will release the 600 prisoners and several other prisoners who were supposed to be released thus week. Hamas also agreed not to conduct any public ceremony around the return of the bodies, Israeli officials said.
What they're saying: "We're hopeful that we have the proper time to finish off -- to begin phase two and finish it off and get more hostages released and move the discussion forward," Witkoff said in a Sunday interview on CNN's "State of the Union."
- The White House envoy said he believes Netanyahu is motivated to release more hostages.
- "He also wants to protect the state of Israel. And so he's got a red line. And he said what the red line is. And that is that Hamas cannot be involved in a governing body when this thing is resolved. And so I think he's trying to square the circle on both of those things," Witkoff said.
Driving the news: Netanyahu convened security consultations on Saturday about the way forward in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
- Israeli officials said that despite recommendations from the heads of the security services, Netanyahu delayed the release of the 600 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, citing Hamas violations of the deal.
- The heads of the security services told Netanyahu in the meeting that they recommend making every effort to exhaust the negotiations on the second phase of the deal or on extending its first phase, Israeli officials said.
What they're saying: The White House on Sunday expressed support for Israel's decision to delay the release of the Palestinian prisoners and said President Trump is "prepared to support Israel in whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas."
- "Given Hamas' barbaric treatment of the hostages, including the hideous parade of the Bibas children's coffins through the streets of Gaza, Israel's decision to delay the release of prisoners is an appropriate response," White House national security council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.
Behind the scenes: Witkoff met on Saturday in Miami with Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, who is leading the Israeli negotiations team. It was the second meeting between the pair in 48 hours to discuss the second phase of the hostage deal.
- An Israeli official said Witkoff wanted Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad to also negotiate, but their schedules would not allow it.
- The Israeli official noted that the mediators did not want to speak for Hamas or negotiate for the group and therefore refrained from coming to Miami.
- "The Americans understood that the mediators did not intend to cooperate with the process that Witkoff and Dermer wanted to conduct in Miami and that if they wanted to move forward, the negotiations had to be in the region," the Israeli official said.
Witkoff told CBS' "Face the Nation" that his five-day trip will include stops in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information, including the postponement of Witkoff's trip, his comments on Tuesday and Tuesday's announcement by Israel's government and Hamas.
