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President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Thursday that the US has cut short Gaza ceasefire talks after the latest response from Hamas and is bringing negotiating teams back from Qatar for consultation.
“The mediators have put in great effort, but Hamas does not seem to be coordinated or acted in good faith,” Witkov said in a statement.
“We’re looking at alternative options to take hostages home and create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
It was unclear what “alternative options” the US was considering. The White House had no immediate comments and the State Department did not respond to the message immediately.
The breakthrough in talks over a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has evaded the Trump administration for several months as conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza.
The territory recently had the most deadly day for its helpers in more than 21 months of war.
The side gave a few weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress, but no major breakthroughs.
Officials said the main fixation point was the redeployment of Israeli forces after the ceasefire.
Witkov said the US was “decisive” in search of an end to the Gaza conflict, and “it’s a shame Hamas acted in this selfish way.”
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office recalled its negotiating team back to Israel in light of Hamas’ reaction.
In a brief statement, the Prime Minister’s Office expressed gratitude to Witkov and the mediators for Qatar and Egypt’s efforts, but gave no further details.
The under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas releases 10 living hostages and 18 other stages of ruins in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Supply of aid will increase, and both sides will negotiate in a permanent ceasefire.
The consultations were strayed about competing demands to end the war. Hamas says that in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal, they will release only all hostages and end the war.
Israel says it does not agree to end the war until Hamas abandons its power and disarms.
This is Trump’s latest set-off as he tried to position himself as a peacemaker and mostly keep the fact that he wanted to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Republican president has also pledged to quickly negotiate the end of the Russian war in Ukraine, but there has been little progress there either.
With the war in Gaza, Trump met with Netanyahu at the White House earlier this month, continuing to push his weight to reach a breakthrough and a ceasefire deal.
However, despite a newly strengthened partnership with Netanyahu following the joint strikes of their countries on Iran’s nuclear site, Israeli leaders left Washington without an announced breakthrough.
Additional sources •AP