Hamas claimed it had a new 11th-hour deal for a cease-fire supported by the Trump administration, but President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy said Hamas was twisting his proposal into something it was not.
Hamas claimed Monday that the U.S. proposed a 70-day ceasefire with the release of 10 live hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023, a Palestinian official told Reuters. The hostages would be freed in two groups of five at the start and end of the 70 days.
The deal included “a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip” and the release of many prisoners by Israel, including hundreds of Palestinians serving lengthy prison terms.
A Palestinian official accuses US envoy Steve Witkoff of backtracking on a ceasefire proposal, stating that Witkoff initially signaled acceptance of Hamas’s revisions – prompting reports the group had agreed to the deal. But the official says Witkoff later reversed course,… pic.twitter.com/qLJc98nCgc
— ILTV Israel News (@ILTVNews) May 26, 2025
Envoy Steve Witkoff said the deal he sent Hamas was not what it claimed to have received.
“What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable,” Witkoff said, according to Axios.
Witkoff’s most recent proposal called for the release of 10 living hostages, the bodies of 19 deceased hostages, the release of some Palestinian prisoners, and a cease-fire of between 45 and 60 days.
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Witkoff said Hamas did not receive a new proposal, no matter what it claims.
He said his proposal, to which Israel has agreed, would “lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent cease-fire, which I agreed to preside over.”
“There is a deal on the table, and Hamas needs to accept it,” he said, according to the New York Post.
Yesterday (May 25):
🚛107 humanitarian aid trucks carrying flour for bakeries and food were transferred via the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gaza following inspection.
We will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid while making every effort to ensure that the aid does not… pic.twitter.com/qaDwDYJXNB
— COGAT (@cogatonline) May 26, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it would never accept what Hamas claimed was on the table, according to the Times of Israel.
“The proposal received by Israel cannot be accepted by any responsible government,” an official from Netanyahu’s office said.
“Hamas is setting impossible conditions that mean a complete failure to meet the war goals, and an inability to release the hostages,” he said.
The proposal Hamas is touting “does not indicate a real desire to bridge the gaps between the parties” and was “very far” from what Witkoff proposed, the official said.
“There is no genuine willingness on Hamas’s part to move forward with a deal. Israel remains committed to the Witkoff framework,” he said.
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