Jerusalem
Cnn
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The American special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that a cease-fire agreement for Gaza was currently on the table with a path to end the war, and urged Hamas to accept it.
The proposal would see the release of half of living hostages and half of those who died in exchange for a temporary ceasefire before the negotiations begin for a complete agreement to end the war.
He refused to specify how long this temporary truce would last, which was a key question in the negotiations.
“Israel will accept a temporary ceasefire agreement / temporary hostage that would see half of the living and half of the deceased return and lead to substantial negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire, which I agreed to preside” Witkoff in CNN on Monday. “This agreement is on the table. Hamas should take it. ”
He said Hamas had not yet accepted the agreement.
An American official said that CNN Witkoff had not directly met Hamas. According to a source familiar with the issue, the Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah met Hamas in Doha about the proposal. Bahbah, who managed the group “Arabs-Americans for Trump” during the 2024 presidential campaign, worked on behalf of the administration.
The comments of Witkoff to CNN mark the first time he said that he would preside the negotiations for the end of the war during the temporary ceasefire.
Hamas has long asked that Israel is seriously engaging in negotiations to end the war if it accepts another temporary ceasefire, after Israel refused to do it during the last truce. Witkoff’s involvement in the negotiation of a permanent ceasefire seems to aim to provide the Hamas of Washington’s insurance that Israel will engage in such negotiations in the future.
Reuters reported earlier on Monday that Hamas had accepted a proposal that would see the release of 10 hostages in two groups in exchange for a 70 -day truce. Witkoff told CNN that it was not his proposal.
“What I saw is completely unacceptable,” said Witkoff, referring to the report.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official close to negotiations also told CNN that Hamas had accepted Witkoff’s proposal, but had not provided additional details on what the agreement involved.
CNN contacted the Israeli government to comment.
In a video message published on social networks on Monday evening, Netanyahu said that getting out of the hostages is an absolute priority.
“I really hope that we will have something to announce on this front,” he said. “And if not today, then tomorrow – we don’t give up.”
Later, two Israeli officials said that there was “no progress” in negotiations for a release contract for ceasefire and hostage and that “Hamas continued to stand in its refusal”.
“The Prime Minister meant that a breakthrough could only occur if Hamas aligns the Israeli position,” said one of the officials.
The proposal comes at a crucial time from the war, because the Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for most of the south of Gaza before its spokesman said it was an “unprecedented attack” against the territory.
The order covers the city of Khan Younis and a large part of the surroundings, according to the spokesperson for the Arabic language of the defense forces Israel (FDI), Avichay Adere. He described the governorate of Khan Younis as a “dangerous combat zone which has been notified several times”.
The evacuation zone goes to the south to the border of Gaza-Egypt where the Israeli forces occupied the Philadelphi corridor, a band of 14 kilometers (8 miles) along the border. It seems to include the entire Khan Younis, a densely wrapped city with many displaced Palestinians. The order asks the Palestinians to move to the Al-Mawasi region, a close strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea.
Earlier Monday, the FDIs said that three rockets had been taken from Southern Gaza, two of which landed in the territory of Gazan and one of which was intercepted.
The order, which also covers certain parts of eastern Gaza, comes after the soldiers have exhibited his strategy to take control of the territory, where he has been fighting a war since October 2023 to eradicate Hamas following the attack on the militant group against Israel.
An Israeli military official told CNN on Monday that Israel planned to occupy 75% of Gaza within two months as part of his new offensive.
If carried out, the plan would force more than two million Palestinians in a quarter of the coastal enclave, surrounded by almost all sides by Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month, the whole population would be moved south of Gaza.
The FDI now has five divisions operating in Gaza, the army said on Friday, totaling tens of thousands of soldiers. During a visit to the troops of Khan Younis on Sunday, the FDI staff chief Eyal Zamir, said: “You are fighting on the central front of the State of Israel. It is a prolonged multi-arena war.”
On Monday, the Hamas government media office said that Israel already “effectively” controlled 77% of Gaza thanks to “a high firepower which prevents Palestinian civilians from accessing their homes, areas, land and properties, or through oppressive forced evacuation policies”.
Israel is under increasing international pressure – including longtime allies – on its decision to expand war and, in the words of an Israeli minister, “conquer” the territory.
The United Kingdom has interrupted commercial talks and extremist colonists sanctioned In the West Bank. Canada and France have threatened with sanctions. And the European Union – Israel’s largest trading partner – examines its historic association with the country.
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the German public broadcaster on Monday that the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza “could no longer be justified for a fight against Hamas terrorism”.
The American Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, however, reiterated American support to Israel on Sunday.
She met Netanyahu And expressed his appreciation for the conduct of the Prime Minister of War, according to a press release from the Israeli government’s press office.
Dana Karni, Lauren Izso and Kylie Atwood of CNN contributed to this report.
