In Israel and the United States, the gaps between Israel and Hamas are currently being defined as highly problematic to bridge.
“It’s difficult, though not impossible, to bridge,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
While Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, presented a proposal a few days ago, which discusses the release of five living hostages, including soldier Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli citizen, and the return of several deceased hostages, Israel demands the return of 11 living hostages.
Last Friday, Hamas said it was only willing to release one living hostage, Alexander, and return four bodies of hostages with dual citizenship in exchange for extending the ceasefire by 50 days.
“The response does not allow for progress,” Witkoff told CNN. “It is completely unacceptable. Their window of opportunity is closing. They should take a look at what we did with the Houthis.”
Israeli delegation in Cairo
At the instruction of Prime Minister Netanyahu, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday. Representatives of the negotiation team met with senior Egyptian officials to discuss the issue of the hostages.
“There is a significant difficulty in advancing matters, and both the US administration and Israel are losing patience,” a source involved in the negotiations told the Post.
The ceasefire would not last forever without the release of hostages, a source said, adding that the level of violence and actions against Hamas would likely escalate if no agreements are reached.
