Hamas tried to pull a bait-and-switch on the latest cease-fire deal by altering the terms of the proposal that were sent to the terror group, according to President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hamas claimed on Monday that it had been presented with a new US-backed deal that would see a 60-day ceasefire and the release of five live hostages on the first and final days of the truce.
But a “disappointed” Witkoff blasted Hamas, saying the terms of the deal sent to the group were very different.
The latest Witkoff proposal includes the release of 10 living and 19 dead hostages in return for 45 to 60 days of ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
“What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable,” Witkoff, a New York real estate billionaire, told Axios.
He said Israel agreed to the terms of the deal he proposed, and that it would offer a path to a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
“That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it,” Witkoff told CNN Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the Hamas deal as “a US proposal” on Monday.
“No responsible Israeli government could accept it,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office read.