U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff was set to travel to the Gaza area “region” on Tuesday, Tammy Bruce, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman, told reporters at the department’s press briefing. Her statement came as Washington and other mediators awaited the Hamas terrorist group’s response to the latest ceasefire proposal.
“We all have, as the president and the secretary and the envoy, a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire, as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow,” Bruce told reporters.
When pressed where exactly Witkoff was heading, Bruce said that U.S. Secretary of of State Marco Rubio had not given her any specifics about that during their “very quick” call.
“We have many, many partners there, many allies,” Bruce said. “When it comes to the specific location of the envoy, I do not have that, but it’s in a dynamic to where we’re looking to finalize this arrangement.”
Shortly after the press briefing, Axios reported that Witkoff told negotiating parties in recent weeks that he would join talks in Doha, Qatar, only if an agreement with Hamas came within reach.
Citing two sources with knowledge of the matter, Axios not confirm Witkoff’s visit to the region and claimed the envoy would depart for Italy on Wednesday to meet top Qatari and Israeli officials.
The sources told the publication that the Rome meet was a sign that a deal could be a matter of days away, and that Witkoff would travel to Doha toward the end of the week to try and secure the deal if sufficient progress was made.
The United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt are awaiting Hamas’s response to the latest proposal for a hostage release and ceasefire in Gaza. The terrorist group was reportedly expected to give its response by Tuesday evening.
Israel’s Channel 12 News cited Israeli and regional sources as saying that there is a possibility Hamas could agree to the terms, though additional talks would need to be held on the deployment of IDF troops during the truce, as well as how many Palestinian terrorists Jerusalem would free.
The disagreement reportedly focused on the depth of the Israeli buffer zone with the Gaza Strip, as well as Hamas’s demand that Jerusalem commute the sentences of 1,200-plus Palestinian detainees, including 125 who are serving life sentences for deadly terror attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday evening that Israel is “at the closest point to achieving the war’s objectives,” which includes securing the freedom of the 50 hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip 655 days after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
During a multi-arena assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and top commanders, Katz stressed “the importance of meeting the war objectives as defined, foremost among them the return of all the hostages and the defeat of the Hamas terrorist group,” his office said.
