Hamas rejected a new deal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza by several weeks in exchange for Hamas releasing five living and 10 dead hostages, said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new proposal, which differs from a previous outline put forward by the Trump administration, would extend the current ceasefire until late April, covering Ramadan and Passover. In exchange, Hamas would release additional hostages and Israel would be required to resume the flow of humanitarian aid into war-ravaged Gaza.
Edan Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, would also have to be released immediately as part of the deal.
The six-week ceasefire the two sides agreed to in mid-January expired in early March, after Hamas released 30 hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel and Hamas were supposed to negotiate an extended truce during the six-week pause.
The new U.S. outline for an extension was intended to buy additional time to negotiate a more concrete, long-term truce.
Mr. Witkoff said Hamas rejected the deal, which he said needed to be implemented quickly.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire,” he said. “Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not. Hamas is well aware of the deadline and knows that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes.”
Israel gave a positive response to the U.S. proposal but later demanded a larger number of hostages be released.
Hamas, pushed for a U.S. guarantee that there be further discussion on phase two of the current ceasefire deal, which provides for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the end of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to hold negotiations on the second phase despite the agreement’s stipulations.
If the sides cannot reach an agreement based on the new U.S. proposal, mediators were expected to pressure Israel and Hamas towards a smaller interim agreement in which a smaller number of hostages would be freed and the ceasefire maintained.
