US envoys, headed to Doha for truce-hostage talks, tell families they’re optimistic
Witkoff says Trump ‘relentless’ in determination to bring everyone home, after talks jump-started by release of Alexander: ‘If we can’t solve it, will be one of the worst failures I can ever endure’
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US hostage envoy Adam Boehler on Tuesday told families of hostages still in Gaza that they think there is a chance to make progress on freeing their loved ones as they head to Qatar for indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.
The Forum said that during a two-hour meeting, Witkoff “expressed that everyone would prefer to see a diplomatic solution, noting that most captivity survivors have been released through diplomatic means.”
“He assured the families that if he and Boehler didn’t believe there was a genuine chance for progress in negotiations, they wouldn’t be making the trip to Doha,” the Forum added.
Witkoff also insisted that Trump would be “relentless” in working to ensure that all remaining hostages come home, the Forum said.
In further remarks at the meeting broadcast on Tuesday evening on Channel 12 news, Witkoff said: “Everything is moving in the direction of: create a deal to diplomatically solve it. And if we can’t diplomatically solve it… it will be one of the worst failures that I can ever endure in my life.”
תיעוד בלעדי מתוך דברי ויטקוף למשפחות החטופים: "חמאס התייחס לעידן טוב יותר מאז בחירת טראמפ" | @SuleimanMas1 עם המסר המעודד#מהדורתכאןחדשות pic.twitter.com/X7RUOFyHdH
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 13, 2025
At another point in the discussion, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen posed a question to Witkoff: “Why aren’t you forcing the Israeli government to stop the war? Because this is the only way it could end. For the good of everybody,” he asked in a recording obtained by Haaretz.
“I don’t want to get into it,” Witkoff responded. “We’re not the Israeli government. We don’t disagree. The Israeli government is a sovereign government. They can’t tell us what to do, and we can’t tell them what to do.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war in exchange for all of the hostages, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power. He appears to be out of step with the majority of Israelis who back such an exchange, according to repeated polls.
The meeting between Witkoff and hostage families came ahead of another round of negotiations in Doha that was slated to start on Wednesday. Netanyahu said Israel may agree to a short-term truce, but will not end the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated, his office said Tuesday.
“Eliminating Hamas and freeing all our hostages — these go hand in hand. That’s how we’re doing this,” Netanyahu said Monday night in a meeting with injured reservists from the group “Wounded Soldiers for Victory,” according to a video shared by his office. The premier also told the soldiers that Israel was gearing up to take control of the Strip and was looking for countries to take in Gazans.
The premier has stressed that negotiations would be conducted with Gaza “under fire” — despite a reported US commitment to the contrary — and that the military’s planned offensive to achieve control of the entire Strip will still go ahead if Hamas does not release more captives first.
The negotiations were jump-started by the release on Monday of US-Israeli captive soldier Edan Alexander following indirect talks between Witkoff and Hamas, in which the White House reportedly agreed to the terror group’s request that the US pressure Israel into a ceasefire-hostage deal.
Hamas on Tuesday said Netanyahu was “misleading” the public by calling Alexander’s release the result of Israeli military pressure. The terror group said the release was “the result of serious communications with the US administration and the efforts of mediators.”
Alexander’s release was widely seen as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump, who is due in Doha on Wednesday as part of a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The soldier was the last known living US citizen in Hamas captivity, and his release was seen as a goodwill gesture to Trump.
In the wake of Alexander’s release, terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 58 hostages, including 57 of those abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Alexander and 23 other young men still thought to be alive had been set for release in the second phase of a ceasefire-hostage deal that was struck in January following mediation by Egypt, the US and Qatar. However, the deal’s 42-day first phase expired on March 2 amid Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second phase, which would have required a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza — a red line for his far-right coalition partners.
Netanyahu at the time demanded Hamas agree to “Witkoff’s framework,” which would have extended the first phase of the ceasefire by some 40 days in return for about half the remaining living hostages. On Monday, as negotiations were set to resume, the premier reportedly told coalition partners that Israel was still committed to the framework, saying the war would continue until Hamas is vanquished.
Witkoff and Boehler, who on Tuesday visited Alexander at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, later told members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum that Trump remained committed to bringing home all the remaining captives.
“The president’s not going to tolerate anything other than everybody coming home, and he will be relentless on that pursuit… when people don’t do so well with the United States, we don’t do so well with them,” said Witkoff at the Forum’s Tel Aviv headquarters, according to video released by the group.
Witkoff and Boehler tell hostages famalies: The president will not accept anything less than the return of all the hostages. pic.twitter.com/O4XwvTC0nT
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 13, 2025
According to Channel 12 news, a “small” delegation of hostages’ relatives was also headed to Doha and would meet with both Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani. The report did not specify the exact makeup of the delegation, but said the group would be led by Eytan Stibbe, a former fighter pilot, arms dealer and businessman who was part of a private trip to space in 2022.
Al-Thani, whose country backs Hamas and hosts its politburo, suggested to Trump and Witkoff during a visit to Washington last month that they accept a Hamas-approved proposal to release all the hostages and end the war in Gaza, but was told Washington would accept only a temporary, phased deal, Axios reported Tuesday.
Upon returning to Doha, al-Thani encouraged Hamas to make a gesture to Trump to change the US president’s position, according to the report. Shortly afterward, Hamas reached out to Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman and Trump supporter, to mediate talks with the US on the proposal, the report said, citing four Israeli, Palestinian and US officials. The existence of this backchannel was first reported by The Times of Israel.
The White House subsequently told the terror group that if Alexander were released, the US would pressure Israel to implement a 70- to 90-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 hostages, during which negotiations for a final deal would be held, according to a Palestinian official cited by in the report.
The US, Qatar and Egypt would ensure that the war wouldn’t resume throughout the talks, the official added, though the US did not confirm this to Axios.
For his part, Trump did not pressure Netanyahu during their phone call Monday to roll back his plans for an expanded ground campaign in Gaza set to begin after Trump’s Middle East visit, Israeli officials told Axios.
Netanyahu: ‘A temporary ceasefire — fine. But we’re going all the way’
Speaking to the wounded reservists Monday night, Netanyahu said “the situation has changed,” and vowed that “in the coming days, we’ll go in with full force to complete the operation.”
“Completing the operation means subduing Hamas. It means destroying Hamas,” he said.
“Maybe Hamas will say, ‘Wait — we want to release ten more,’” added Netanyahu. “Fine, bring them. We’ll take them. And then we’ll go in. But there will be no situation where we stop the war.”
“A temporary ceasefire — fine. But we’re going all the way,” he said.
Netanyahu also said Israel was gearing up to let Gazans emigrate, in keeping with a plan announced by Trump in February to take over the devastated Strip, oust its residents and rebuild it as a coastal resort.
“We’ve already set up a governing body that will allow [civilians] to exit, but the main issue is this — we need host countries willing to absorb them,” said Netanyahu. “That’s what we’re working on right now.”
“If we give them a way out, I’m telling you — more than 50% will leave. In my opinion, many more,” he said, assuring the soldiers that, in any case, “Hamas will not remain.”
The premier said the “Wounded Soldiers for Victory” reservists, who oppose a ceasefire in Gaza, are “an inspiration, and with your spirit, we are heading toward a total victory.” The reservists, meanwhile, “expressed support for Netanyahu’s leadership in pursuing victory and achieving all the war’s objectives, and urged him to decisively defeat the terrorist organization Hamas,” the premier’s office said.
AFP contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.