Hamas claims ‘positive signs’ as Qatar, Egypt scramble to resolve Gaza truce crisis
As Trump deadline looms, Witkoff warns of ‘big problem’ unless ‘something different occurring’ on hostages by Saturday; Sissi holds off on scheduling White House visit, works on alternative Gaza plan
As Israeli and American officials continued to threaten Hamas on Wednesday, several reports said Egypt and Qatar were intensifying efforts to save the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, with Cairo and the Palestinian terror group reportedly optimistic that the impasse could be solved.
The ceasefire has looked increasingly fragile since Hamas said this week it was postponing the release of any more Israeli hostages held in Gaza until further notice, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement. US President Donald Trump then warned that “hell will break loose” if the hostages are not released by noon on Saturday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently added that Israel will resume “intense fighting” if Hamas does not meet the deadline.
While Netanyahu did not specify whether Hamas had to release all remaining hostages, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff warned Wednesday that there would be “a big problem” if they weren’t released by Trump’s deadline.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization. They should not be allowed to be part of the government in Gaza. This is an unhealthy situation; they need to go,” Witkoff told reporters.
“The president said all that we all need to know, which is Saturday, 12 o’clock he expects there to be something different occurring, and if it’s not there’s going to be a big problem,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Israel could not allow Hamas to use a ceasefire in Gaza to rearm, appearing to back a potential resumption of fighting.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization. They can't be allowed to be a part of the government in Gaza. It's an unhealthy situation. They need to go. The President said all that we all need to know, which is: Saturday, 12 o'clock."
— Steve Witkoff pic.twitter.com/fZ87gKy1Vg
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) February 12, 2025
Jerusalem also reiterated the threat of a renewal of the war, with Defense Minister Israel Katz warning that if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages by Saturday, “the gates of hell will open, just as the US president promised.”
“If Hamas stops the release of the hostages, then there is no agreement, and there is a war,” he said during a visit to the IDF Operations Directorate’s command center.
Katz vowed that renewed fighting in Gaza “will be different in its intensity compared to before the ceasefire, and will not end without the defeat of Hamas and release all the hostages, and will also allow the realization of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza.”
Egyptian sources told Reuters that Qatar and Egypt were in discussions with Hamas and Israel to prevent the cancellation of the ceasefire deal and to ensure its completion.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV said the pressure by the mediators was intensifying, citing an Egyptian source.
A Palestinian source told AFP that Qatar and Egypt were “working extensively” to resolve the crisis, adding that the Arab mediators were in touch with the Trump administration as part of their effort.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to continue ceasefire talks, the terror group said in a statement.
An Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks told AP that the two sides were close to an agreement. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Israel had committed to delivering more tents, shelters and heavy equipment to Gaza.
An official with Hamas, Mahmoud Merdawi, cited “positive signals” that the hostages would be released on Saturday, the news agency said. But he cautioned that the group had yet to receive the guarantees it seeks from Israel regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Egypt and Qatar, alongside the United States, brokered the deal that took effect on January 19 after more than a year of extensive diplomatic efforts.
Sixteen Israeli hostages have been released since, out of 33 on a list to be freed in the 42-day first phase of the deal. In all, Hamas is holding 73 of the 251 hostages it abducted on October 7, 2023; some 30 of them are believed to be alive.
“They are working intensively to resolve the crisis and compel Israel to implement the humanitarian protocol in the ceasefire agreement and begin negotiations for the second phase,” added the unnamed Palestinian source. Israel has denied violations of the ceasefire, including claims that it has limited aid in Gaza.
On Tuesday, United Nations humanitarian aid officials reported there has been a spike in deliveries since the ceasefire started, but did not provide specific details that could settle the spat between Israel and Hamas.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release all its hostages, Israel to release several thousand Palestinian security prisoners — including hundreds of terror convicts serving life sentences — and a halt to fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a “sustainable calm” and IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
The three-week-old truce, only halfway through its first stage, has come under immense strain in recent days following Hamas’s announcement.
Hamas praises Jordan and Egypt for opposing Gazans’ relocation
Meanwhile, Hamas praised Jordan and Egypt on Wednesday for their repeated rejections of Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its population to the two neighboring countries.
The terror group said in a separate statement that the Jordanian and Egyptian positions “confirm that there is an Arab plan to reconstruct Gaza without displacing its people.”
The US plan was at the top of the agenda during Trump’s Tuesday Oval Office meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who sought to cautiously repel the idea without upsetting Trump.
He announced that Amman would take in 2,000 sick Gazan children — a figure that amounts to 0.1% of the Strip’s population.
“That’s music to my ears,” said a gratified Trump, who still proceeded to raise the idea of using “parcels of land” in Egypt and Jordan to house Palestinians.
Abdullah responded that he’d have to do what was best for his country, adding that Arab countries, led by Egypt, were putting together their plan for the rehabilitation of Gaza.
Hours later, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced that it would soon be presenting its plan for a “comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on the territory.
Egypt announced earlier this week it would hold an “emergency Arab summit” on February 27 addressing Trump’s plan.
Notably, the White House readout on the meeting between Trump and Abdullah made no direct mention of Trump’s desire for Jordan to take in Palestinians.
“The two leaders also discussed the President’s goal of ensuring that Gaza is rebuilt beautifully after the conflict ends and providing options for the people of Gaza that allow them to live in security and dignity, and free of Hamas’s tyranny,” it said.
Trump asked Jordan’s King Abdullah to help ensure that Hamas understands “the severity of the situation” if the terror group does not release the hostages by Saturday, the readout added. Abdullah is not known to have noteworthy contacts with Hamas.
“The president reiterated that Hamas must release all hostages, including all Americans, by Saturday, and asked for the King’s assistance in ensuring that Hamas, as well as the leaders of the region, understand the severity of the situation,” the US readout added.
Trump extended a White House invitation to Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, with onlookers believing the visit would come shortly after that of Abdullah.
But such a sit-down has yet to be scheduled, apparently as Cairo seeks to finalize its Gaza plan first.
An unconfirmed report from Reuters citing anonymous Egyptian security sources claimed Wednesday that Sissi would not travel to Washington if Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza remains on the agenda — a likely unrealistic expectation, given that Trump has repeatedly stood by the plan.
Sissi and Abdullah held a phone call on Wednesday, during which they reiterated their stance that Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians, according to Egypt’s presidency.
“The two leaders affirmed the unity of the Egyptian and Jordanian positions, including the necessity of the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, the continued release of hostages and prisoners and facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid,” the Egyptian readout said, stressing the need for the “immediate start of the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip, without displacing the Palestinian people from their land.”
The aversion to Trump’s plan is widespread in the Arab world. The United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, said on Wednesday that the US approach to Gaza is “difficult.”
“But at the end of the day, we’re all in a solution-seeking business. We just don’t know where it’s going to land yet,” he said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
At the summit, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned that if Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a “damaging effect on peace and stability.”
