U.S., Israel pull teams from Gaza ceasefire negotiations
The United States is withdrawing its negotiating team from Doha “for consultations,” Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said in a statement after the apparent failure of the latest round of negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire. While U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators “have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” he said. Israel released a similar statement saying it was bringing home its negotiators.
“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said.
Israel said it had accepted the latest Witkoff proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which it would withdraw its troops from certain parts of Gaza in exchange for the release of some of the remaining hostages, with negotiations to continue over the rest of the hostages and bringing an end to the war. In a statement Thursday morning, a Hamas spokesman said the group had presented a “realistic and positive response” and “Israel must now enter into serious and swift negotiations to reach a ceasefire.”
About 50 hostages are still being held by Hamas, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The Hamas response reportedly included insistence that humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza be returned to its original United Nations-led system and greatly increased – eliminating the U.S.- and Israeli-backed mechanism operated by U.S. security contractors; that the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces be along the same lines as a previous ceasefire that ended in March; and that the mediators guarantee that ongoing negotiations will lead to the end of the war.
The breakdown in negotiations comes amid rising deaths from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, particularly among children, as Israel has imposed severe restrictions on the amount of food and other aid entering the enclave.
Between famine and catastrophic conditions throughout the war, which has killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, global condemnation from aid agencies and foreign leaders has continued to increase.
In an open letter published Wednesday, 115 organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps and Save the Children, said Israel’s blockade and ongoing military operations were pushing Gaza’s more than 2 million people, including relief workers, toward starvation.
French President Emmanuel Macron also announced Thursday that France will recognize an independent state of Palestine in September at the U.N. General Assembly. He also reiterated his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all Israeli hostages and increased aid to people in Gaza, as well as the demilitarization of Hamas and the development of the Palestinian state.
“The urgent need today is to end the war in Gaza and to rescue the civilian population,” Macron wrote on X. He affirmed the decision in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sharply denounced the move.
“Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launchpad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.”