Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, expressed optimism on Monday after a multitude of Arab, Muslim and European nations announced their support for Washington’s Gaza peace plan.
“We have so much widespread support from all of the Gulf coast Arab countries, we have widespread support from the Europeans,” Witkoff told Fox News’ Bret Baier after the White House launched its proposal.
“We have a lot of support for the plan, a lot of buy-in,” Witkoff said, adding that while “we have some details to work out,” he believed Trump would be able to get the hostage deal over the finish line.
“The Israelis have bought into this. As the prime minister said, they want to do it the easy way first. So no threats, let’s see if we can peacefully get everybody home—on both sides, by the way, on the Palestinian side, as well as the Israeli side,” the envoy continued.
“I really am hopeful, because I’ve met people on both sides and this needs to end,” Witkoff said of the 23-month-long war sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 people in Israel’s south.
🚨 WATCH: Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, tells Fox’s @BretBaier he’s “very optimistic” of Israel-Gaza peace pic.twitter.com/f8xZeNyAYh
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Trump’s plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, a phased IDF withdrawal from most of the Gaza Strip, Hamas freeing Israeli hostages in exchange for the Jewish state releasing nearly 2,000 terrorist prisoners, amnesty for Hamas members who lay down arms and the creation of a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” to rule Gaza on a transitional basis.
Speaking at a press conference after the White House released the plan on Monday, Trump said Hamas has not agreed to the deal but that Arab and Muslim countries were negotiating with the terrorist organization.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the effort together with Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said on Monday evening that Trump “has always been clear about his priorities regarding the Gaza conflict: bring the hostages home and end the war.
“His visionary plan for peace makes both goals attainable. It is not only bold and comprehensive, but a means to securing lasting peace in the Middle East,” tweeted Washington’s top diplomat.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations noted that Hamas still holds the bodies of two Americans killed on Oct. 7, and said Washington would continue to work “tirelessly” to get all 48 remaining hostages freed.
“If we want to end the war, we need to place accountability where it belongs—with the terrorist organization known as Hamas,” it said. “By holding Hamas accountable, we can free the hostages and end this war.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also urged the international community to pressure the terrorist group, which he described as “the last remaining holdout,” and bring an end to the “terrible” war in Gaza.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday afternoon that Turkey would be joining Doha’s mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas.
In a separate statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Qatar accused Israel of “seeking to undermine peace prospects and de-escalation efforts in the region by implementing settlement, colonial, and aggressive plans and policies that pose a threat to peace and security.
Qatar’s envoy in Geneva urged the international community to pressure Jerusalem to “stop the war and crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the forced displacement and starvation of its population, and to allow the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid, as well as to end its occupation of all Palestinian and Arab territories, and to hold accountable all those responsible for the crimes and grave violations committed against the Palestinian people.”
The statement did not mention Israel’s acceptance of the peace plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night touted his “historic” visit to Washington, speaking before returning to Jerusalem.
Instead of Hamas isolating the Jewish state, “We turned the tables and isolated Hamas,” the prime minister exclaimed, noting that “now the whole world, including the Arab and Muslim world, is pressuring Hamas to accept the terms we set together with President Trump.
“We will bring back all our hostages, both the living and the dead alike, while the Israel Defense Forces remains in most of the Gaza Strip. Who would have believed that?” Netanyahu said of the proposed agreement.
