US: Witkoff proposal to extend ceasefire’s 1st phase remains on table, but not for long

The US State Department says that the bridge proposal submitted by the Trump administration last week to extend phase one of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas remains on the table.

“The proposal is compelling. The Israelis were advised about it and informed beforehand. Hamas gave a totally unacceptable response. The opportunity is still there, but it’s closing fast,” a State Department spokesperson says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

The proposal would see the “release of five live hostages, including American Edan Alexander. It would also see the release of a substantial number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails,” the US statement adds.

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff submitted the bridge proposal last week, effectively accepting Israel’s refusal to enter phase two of the deal, which was supposed to begin on March 2 and see a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a permanent end to the war in exchange for the return of the remaining living hostages.

Witkoff said on Sunday that Hamas’s response to the proposal was a “nonstarter,” as the terror group insists on sticking to the original terms of the deal signed in January.

The State Department spokesperson says: “The pillars of [the US] approach remain resolute: stand with Israel, stand for peace. President Trump has made clear the consequences of what will happen if Hamas walks away. I’ll leave it at that.”

“Hamas bears total responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities. Every death would have been avoided had Hamas accepted the ‘bridge’ proposal that [special envoy] Witkoff offered last Wednesday,” the spokesperson adds.