US backs Israeli call for new Gaza plan
Relatives of captives urge bringing everyone back before any renewed fighting.
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) The United States offered support Sunday for Israel’s decision to condition the continuation of the Gaza ceasefire on a new framework extending its first phase rather than moving on to the second phase, as hostages families and activists in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem urged the government to pick the latter option to bring the remaining captives home and end the war.
The White House said it backed Israel’s approach in the hostage negotiations, but did not specifically confirm Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s characterization of the proposal for a new hostage release framework which Jerusalem decided to back early Sunday as one crafted by US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Earlier Sunday, an Arab official denied to The Times of Israel that Witkoff was behind the proposal announced by Netanyahu’s office.
That proposal would abandon the second phase framework that Israel and Hamas had agreed to for a new outline of releasing the remaining 59 hostages in two batches toward the beginning and end of the Ramadan and Passover holidays that run through March and until April 19.
The Arab official said the plan Netanyahu described as Witkoff’s was “more of an Israeli plan.”
Asked to comment on the claim, White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes avoided responding directly, instead sending a statement that expressed support for the position of Israel, which decided to stop the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza after the first phase of the deal expired on Saturday night.
“Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists. We will support their decision on next steps, given Hamas has indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire,” Hughes said.
Israel and Hamas were supposed to begin negotiations regarding the terms of phase two a month ago, but Israel refrained from doing so since that phase requires — in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages — a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and permanent ceasefire, which Netanyahu has ruled out.
Saturday was also supposed to see Israel begin to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza, but Netanyahu’s office already said last month that it would not be complying with this requirement.
The Arab official said Hamas had made clear before and after Netanyahu’s announcement that it was only prepared to release additional hostages as part of the framework that the sides agreed to in January.
‘Hostages immediately, Hamas afterward’
Also Sunday, at a press statement in Tel Aviv, family members of hostages still held captive in Gaza said phase two of the hostage deal must commence immediately, before any return to fighting in Gaza.
“Hostages immediately, Hamas afterward,” said Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri Miran, father of their two young daughters, is still held captive in Gaza.
“What are we waiting for?” said Miran-Lavi. “When can I get up in the morning and answer my girls’ questions about when daddy Omri is coming home?”
Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David who appeared in a Hamas propaganda video last week with his best friend, hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, said that was the first time the family had seen Evyatar since he was kidnapped by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
“Evyatar and the others have no time left,” said David. “We’re grateful to Trump. Bring us a stronger, safer deal. No stages, no phases, bring us Trump’s deal.”
Time is of the essence, said Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimi was killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage to Gaza.
He said his cousin and the other hostages were the cards that Hamas holds, but the hostages would not survive if Israel resumed fighting in Gaza before bringing them back.
“The living will become the dead,” said Goren.
Ella Ben Ami, whose father Ohad Ben Ami returned gaunt and emaciated during the first phase of the deal, said her father was proof that the hostages must be brought home immediately.
Now at home, Ben Ami eats half a pita after each meal as a way of thinking about the “five brothers” he left behind, said Ben Ami, describing the starvation suffered by her father and his fellow captives left in Gaza.
Meanwhile, thousands of people were demonstrating outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem to demand Israel continue the ceasefire agreement in Gaza in order to secure the release of more hostages.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces.
In its statement on early Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said Witkoff had suggested the outline due to his impression that “at this stage, there is no option to bridge the gaps between the sides on ending the war, and that additional time is needed for talks about a permanent ceasefire.”
The statement claimed that Hamas has so far rejected the US plan, and implied that if this stance isn’t changed, Israel could resume the war against the Palestinian terror group that was sparked by the latter’s October 7, 2023, onslaught and which has been on pause since January 19.
During the deal’s first phase, 33 Israeli hostages were released, eight of them dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted terrorists serving hefty jail sentences. Five Thai nationals held hostage in the Gaza Strip were freed separately.
Israel did not directly threaten a return to war, instead reminding the public — and Hamas — that the initial agreement allows Israel to return to fighting after March 1 if negotiations are deemed ineffective. But the Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday evening that resuming fighting was one of the options for pressuring Hamas to agree to the new proposal, after the aid halt to Gaza.
Under the ceasefire outline agreed by Israel and Hamas on January 19, the remaining living hostages were to be released during the second stage of the deal, during which the IDF would complete a full withdrawal from Gaza. A third stage is also planned, during which the bodies of hostages held by Gazan terror groups would be released, the war would end, and the reconstruction of Gaza would begin.
Witkoff is expected to visit Israel soon, likely this week. Several Hebrew media outlets have reported that Jerusalem will likely hold off on renewing the fighting until the visit.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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