White House envoy Steve Witkoff says President Trump wants Gaza war to end immediately, alongside return of the 20 surviving hostages.
By World Israel News Staff
President Donald Trump wants the war in Gaza to end “immediately,” a senior White House official said Tuesday.
Speaking with Fox News‘ Sean Hannity, White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff laid out the administration’s agenda for the Gaza war, emphasizing the president’s desire for a speedy end to the conflict, the return of the 20 surviving hostages, and the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip.
“Now, [Trump] has been very decisive and straightforward in his Truth [Social posts],” Witkoff said. “He wants all the hostages back. That is the position that we have.”
However, the real estate investor turned-diplomat later only mentioned the 20 hostages held in Gaza who are believed to still be alive, rather than all 50 captives.
“That conflict should end immediately, 20 hostages should be returned to their families, a commensurate amount of Palestinian prisoners to be released as well, and just let’s end that thing. Bring peace and solitude to the Gazan people, and rebuild Gaza as it should be rebuilt as the president has set forth.”
Witkoff accused Hamas of not taking hostage deal talks seriously, saying the terror group “slow-played” the US.
“Three weeks ago, that proposal [for a hostage deal] was on the table and they slow-played us, Hamas.”
Pointing to reports this week that Hamas has signaled its support for a similar proposal, Witkoff credited the terror group’s apparent softening of its terms to Trump’s recent threats.
“The president put out his Truth statement saying that he wasn’t going to tolerate it any more. And guess what happened: there has been a major break, they’ve issued the announcement, and they’ve said they want a peace deal.”
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