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There is definitely a deadline for returning to fighting in the Gaza Strip, according to President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, "but I'm not at liberty to discuss it," he told White House reporters on Thursday.
Steve Wtikoff's statements come a day after Trump issued another threat to Hamas about facing "hell to pay" if the terrorist organization does not release the hostages. Witkoff repeated those words on Thursday, saying that "it is time for Hamas to start acting in a responsible and reasonable way."
Later on Thursday Trump confirmed the talks with Hamas, saying: "We are having discussions with Hamas. We are helping Israel in those discussions."
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President Donald Trump meets with returned hostages in the Oval Office
( Video: White House)
Amid fears of a return to fighting, and in light of the terrorist organization's threats that such an escalation "will lead to the deaths of hostages," Witkoff told reporters outside the White House that there is a deadline by which Israel will indeed return to action in the Strip. "Trump was clear on the matter, we don't think Hamas has acted sensibly so far," he noted.
He also commented on the direct contacts the United States is holding with Hamas, which bypasses Israel, and said that the release of the American hostages, both alive and dead, is the administration's top priority. "Eden Alexander is very important to us, as all the hostages are, but Eden Alexander is an American, and he's injured, and so he's a top priority for us," Witkoff said.
A day after the talks were revealed, Witkoff noted that Adam Boehler, the president's envoy for hostages, had indeed held talks with Hamas. "We feel that Hamas has not been forthright with us, and it's time for them to be forthright with us," Witkoff said, adding that the release of Edan Alexander would be a "very important signal."
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President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff
(Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Reuters)
Witkoff said that it was President Trump's meeting with the freed hostages on Wednesday that led him to the message he conveyed on Truth Social. "The president has issued a statement about what's acceptable to him and what's not, and hopefully we'll see some good conduct next week, and I'll be able to go in there and have discussions," he said.
After the cease-fire deal in its current form collapsed, Witkoff was asked if the framework of the agreement still exists. "I don't want to put words in (Trump's) mouth, but I think it's, it's fairly clear he was saying, I've had enough. Like there's a lot of mistreatment. There's a lot of conversation among these hostages about the deprivation that they went through about murders that they saw, and I think that the president listened to it, absorbed it, and said this, it's unacceptable. I'm not going to tolerate this type of behavior," he said.
Witkoff spoke about the moving meeting held Wednesday night with the returned hostages. "The president spent about an hour with the survivors of the captivity yesterday, taking pictures and listening to their stories. He was moved by it and I think they felt a tremendous sense of liberation that they were able to talk about the feelings they experienced," he noted. "To talk about other hostages who were in captivity with them and the need to bring them all home."
He said that Trump "ended up spending about an hour with them, with each of the hostages' pictures, and spent a lot of time listening to their stories about what happened to them in captivity. And he was clearly emotional about it. I think that they felt a really great sense of catharsis that they got to tell the president about their experience, talk about other hostages who they spent time with while they were in captivity, and the need to get them all home. And that led to his post last night. So I describe it as a very, very important day for them. I think they all went home feeling that they got a great sense of closure, at least in part."
The State Department, on the other hand, cooled the air surrounding the reports of direct contacts between the U.S. and Hamas, saying that not every conversation is a "negotiation." In light of these remarks, a senior Israeli official familiar with the details told Ynet Thursday that there will not be a separate American move, but rather a combination of the return of the American hostages in a broader move. "The chances of its success depend on Israel's flexibility and the U.S.'s determination to apply pressure on the parties," he said.
'Trump talked all day about the freed hostages'
President Trump's meeting with the eight returned hostages reportedly touched his heart deeply. Sources familiar with the matter said that the returnees managed to create a very strong emotional connection with Trump and that he talked about the meeting all day and thought about them all day. People who spoke to White House officials also got the impression that Trump intends to allocate the most resources to addressing the issue.
The survivors' delegation included Noa Argamani, Doron Steinbrecher, Eli Sharabi, Naama Levy, Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, and Keith and Aviva Siegel. After the meeting, Trump called on Hamas to immediately release all hostages held in Gaza in what he called his "last warning" to them while also urging the terror group's leadership to leave the Palestinian enclave.
Trump posted on Truth Social: "This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!" Trump said there will be "hell to pay later" if hostages are not released.
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Edan Alexander is the only living hostage with US citizenship that remains in captivity in Gaza
(Photo: Stephani Spindel/Reuters)
On Thursday evening, Hamas' military wing spokesman Abu Obeida issued his own threat in response, stating that an escalation by Israel and a return to fighting would lead to the deaths of hostages.
Abu Obaida claimed Hamas is "prepared for any scenario" and stated that the organization "committed to the world and the mediators to uphold the terms of the cease-fire and the exchange of prisoners. Despite all of Israel's attempts to evade the agreement, we chose to continue honoring it." He went on to accuse Israel of attempting to avoid fulfilling the stages of the agreement, saying: "The enemy leadership is trying to evade the deal, seeking American cover to carry out aggression against our people."
The families of the hostages on Thursday urged the negotiating teams, the Americans and the Israelis, to work toward the release of the hostages, all at the same time and without distinguishing between them. "We urge the negotiators to reach an agreement on the release of all 59 hostages together, not in a trickle that will leave dozens of hostages to languish in Hamas' tunnels of horror for many more months," the Hostage Families Forum said. "We have seen the situation of the freed ones, it is not going to get better. Dealing with Hamas can always be done, the release of the hostages must be done immediately."
The talks behind Israel's back: 'A new era'
Adam Boehler, Trump's envoy for hostage issues, has been talking to Hamas leaders for the past three weeks about the release of the American hostages. At least that's what emerged on Thursday, a day after the talks behind Israel's back were revealed.
The test of the outcome will be whether Phase II of the cease-fire deal is implemented or at least whether there is a gesture from Hamas regarding Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, as well as the return of the bodies of four dead Israeli American hostages: Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai - but for now, whether the cease-fire will continue is unclear.
"The president asked me if there was any work I wanted to focus on," Boehler said on Thursday. "I told him that this (the issue of the hostages) is the only thing because I think there is nothing more important to this country, that even if the citizens are abroad, the country has their back." According to him, "President Trump has made this issue a top priority. You saw what he said yesterday to Hamas, that kidnapping an American citizen or any other citizen is inappropriate and will be responded to in the harshest way possible."
He added: "I have worked directly with the president, with Secretary of State Rubio and with National Security Adviser Waltz, to make sure that our policy is 100% focused on bringing people back. The president has no problem acting, we all back him, and we are beginning a new era where it is unacceptable to detain American citizens."
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The White House claimed to have consulted with Israel about the direct talks it had held with Hamas - but an Israeli official denied this. The New York Times reported that Israel did not learn about the talks from the United States, but from what was described as "other channels."
Sources familiar with the matter told Ynet Thursday that "there is a dynamic here that Netanyahu does not recognize and does not control. After all, there is no scenario where America releases its citizens without also releasing other hostages. Israel tried to claim that there is no second phase and that it is not prepared to enter into negotiations with Hamas, but here is the American administration that says: I will talk directly with Hamas and try to get the negotiations moving."
Israeli sources familiar with the details noted that: "We don't know everything, but the feeling is that something is brewing between the administration and Hamas. The Americans are determined to release more hostages, they understand that a return to fighting and a ground operation is very bad news for the hostages, and they are prepared to go to places their predecessors have not gone. There is incredible determination and wonderful commitment here."
"This is not a government that works normally," a source who is in contact with the government told Ynet. "It works very creatively and breaks all the rules, is not bound by any considerations." This requires mental flexibility on the part of those conducting the negotiations, and they have this flexibility, a source said. "Witkoff's team is very strong and active, a lot of things are happening below the surface."