Witkoff signals upcoming Israel-Hamas talks will be more substantive than PM claimed

WASHINGTON — After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the negotiating team that he will dispatch to Qatar later this week will only be tasked with discussing technical issues regarding the agreement, US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff indicates that the agenda will be more substantive.

Netanyahu reportedly publicized the limited mandate of the mid-level negotiating team due to pressure he is facing from far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse the government if Israel doesn’t resume fighting after the first phase and don’t even want the premier to hold negotiations regarding the second phase.

Asked how the US will respond if Netanyahu refuses to end the war, Witkoff tells reporters outside the White House that he met with the premier yesterday during which he discussed the issue. He notes the statement Netanyahu’s office issued.

“That’s a team that’s going there to negotiate all of these issues that we’re talking about,” Witkoff says.

While the deal stipulates that the sides were supposed to have started negotiations regarding the terms of the deal’s second phase yesterday — the 16th day of the agreement’s first phase — Witkoff tells reporters, “We’re in phase two now — we’re in day 17 of phase two.”

It is unclear what he means by this.

“We were able to get to the right place on phase one. We’re hopeful we’ll get to the right place on phase two,” Witkoff says, adding that Trump is committed to seeing the entire deal through.