U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages that Washington and Israel are working on a plan to end the war in Gaza, linking it to a reconstruction effort for the enclave.
In a meeting on Saturday, Witkoff said the proposal could bring the conflict to a close. A recording reviewed by Reuters captures him telling relatives, “We have a very, very good plan that we’re working on collectively with the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Netanyahu … for the reconstruction of Gaza. That effectively means the end of the war.” The White House did not respond to requests for comment on his remarks.
Witkoff also said that Hamas was prepared to disarm, although the group publicly maintains it will not lay down arms.
This meeting is happening while the whole world is coming down on Israel over the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, where more than 2.2 million people are desperate for food and medicine.
At the same time, Hamas is making it clear they aren’t budging. Hours later, they repeated their core demand: no end to the “armed resistance” without an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Gaza’s health ministry reported seven more deaths from malnutrition on Saturday, including a child. The enclave has seen dozens of starvation-related deaths since Israel’s supply blockade earlier this year.
The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages being taken, has left more than 60,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials. Israel says around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with only 20 believed to be alive.
Hostage families have grown increasingly desperate. On Saturday, Hamas released a video of Israeli captive Evyatar David, visibly emaciated, digging what he said was his own grave. His brother Ilay, speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv attended by thousands, said, “They are on the absolute brink of death. In the current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live.”
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the treatment of the hostages, calling it “deliberate sadistic abuse,” and urged the world to respond.
Witkoff stepped right into the middle of these tensions when he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday. Afterwards, a top Israeli official suggested they were getting on the same page with a clear, three-step endgame: get the hostages back, break Hamas’s military power, and clear all weapons out of Gaza.
But that direct approach clashes with other diplomatic efforts. The ceasefire talks led by Egypt and Qatar just fell apart last week. And now France and Saudi Arabia are floating a much bigger, more complicated idea that would involve Hamas handing its weapons over to the Palestinian Authority as a first step on the long road to a two-state solution.
Meanwhile, aid deliveries remain limited. Israel has opened protected routes and allowed partial pauses in fighting for humanitarian access, along with food airdrops. U.N. agencies say these steps are insufficient, urging land routes to be opened widely and quickly.
For now, families of hostages wait for action as negotiations falter and Gaza’s suffering grows.
