US envoy confirms proposal would free 5 living hostages, Hamas position ‘unacceptable’

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says Hamas’s Friday offer to free American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander is a “non-starter,” warning the terror group of consequences if it doesn’t accept a bridge proposal that he proposed over the weekend.

Witkoff is asked during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” about Hamas’s announcement that it had agreed to release Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals.

“The Hamas proposal is a nonstarter,” he responds.

“I think there’s an opportunity for them, but the opportunity is closing fast,” Witkoff says, pointing to the massive strikes that the US carried out against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen over the weekend, and arguing that they demonstrate “where we stand with regard to terrorism and our tolerance level for terrorist actions.”

“I would encourage Hamas to get much more sensible than how they have been,” Witkoff warns.

He says he spent seven and a half hours meeting with negotiators in Doha on Wednesday. Those discussions led to the crafting of a “bridge proposal,” which Witkoff confirms for the first time would see the release of five living Israeli hostages, including Alexander, in exchange for “a substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, which would be a wonderful thing for these Palestinian families.”

Witkoff’s details of the offer appear in line with those widely reported in recent days, but contradict those provided last night by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which said the proposal envisions 11 living hostages being released.

The Trump envoy says Israel was informed and consulted with ahead of time. Hamas took two or three days to respond, “which is their usual mode,” he says, coming back with something that was “unacceptable.” He declines to get into why that is.