US Envoy Witkoff: Only One Obstacle Remains in Gaza Ceasefire Talks
US envoy Steve Witkoff says negotiations between Israel and Hamas have narrowed significantly, raising hopes for a ceasefire this week.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas have narrowed to just one key issue, raising hopes for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip by the end of the week.
Witkoff said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “So, we are hopeful that by the end of this week, we will have an agreement that will bring us into a 60‑day ceasefire.”
Witkoff added that US negotiators are working to reduce differences and move toward “lasting peace in Gaza and a real resolution to the conflict.”
His remarks came ahead of a second meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, scheduled for Tuesday.
Trump Says Gaza Ceasefire Talks ‘Going Very Well’ despite No Breakthrough
The two leaders met privately for dinner at the White House on Monday night, their third meeting in Washington since Trump returned to the presidency.
“Netanyahu is coming over later,” Trump told reporters earlier in the day. “We’re going to be talking about, I would say, almost exclusively Gaza. We’ve got to get that solved.”
He continued: “It’s a tragedy, and he wants to solve it, and I want to solve it, and I think the other side wants to do the same.”
Despite the optimism from Washington, a senior Israeli political official accompanying Netanyahu to the US said that Israel was preparing to assume control of Gaza temporarily, further complicating prospects for an agreement.
The official, cited in Israeli media, reiterated Israel’s rejection of the Palestinian Authority returning to govern Gaza and suggested that “another force” would be responsible for preventing armed activity in the territory.
“There must be a governing system in Gaza that can manage life,” the official said. “We may stay there for a while.”
For his part, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had accepted the proposal put forward by Witkoff and claimed that he and Trump shared a common vision for security in the region.
“There has never been this level of coordination, cooperation, and trust between the United States and Israel as there is now thanks to President Trump,” Netanyahu said, according to Israeli outlets.
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The Israeli leader insisted that any ceasefire must lead to the release of Israeli captives and the complete dismantling of Hamas’s political and military presence in Gaza.
“The end result will be the release of all our hostages, Hamas’s surrender, and Gaza will no longer pose a threat,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, in Doha, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari confirmed that talks were continuing but emphasized they remain at the general framework stage.
“It is too early to give any impressions,” al-Ansari said. “There are no timetables, and detailed negotiations have not yet begun.”
He added that Israeli proposals for the mass displacement of Palestinians were not part of the discussions and reiterated Qatar’s rejection of any such plans.
Israel’s war on Gaza, ongoing since October 7, 2023, has killed and wounded over 194,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—according to health authorities in the Strip. Thousands remain missing under the rubble, and the war has produced one of the worst famines of the 21st century.
Despite multiple rulings by the International Court of Justice ordering an end to the assault, Israel—backed by the United States—continues its military campaign across the Strip.
(PC, AJA)
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