Witkoff Travelling to the Middle East to Advance Negotiations
Trump’s Middle East envoy is seeking an extension of the Gaza cease-fire’s first phase to allow more time to negotiate a second-phase agreement.
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will be traveling to the Middle East this week to facilitate discussions to prolong the cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas group.
Witkoff stated in an interview with CNN on Feb. 23 that his goal is to extend the first phase of the cease-fire, which is scheduled to end on March 2.
He mentioned, “We need to extend phase one. I will be heading to the region this week, most likely on Wednesday, to negotiate this extension and hopefully secure the necessary time to progress to phase two and ensure the release of more hostages,” during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The initial six-week phase, which began on Jan. 19, experienced complications over the weekend. Israel postponed the release of around 600 Palestinian prisoners after the return of six hostages and four bodies, including three members of the Bibas family.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office explained that the delay in releasing the prisoners was due to waiting for the assurance of the next hostages’ release without any humiliating ceremonies.
Hamas displayed most of the hostages and coffins on stage before turning them over to the Red Cross.
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While releasing three of the six hostages on Feb. 22, Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal were forced to witness the ceremonies in central Gaza without being released, as reported by the Times of Israel.
Israel is still grappling with the news that Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, were not just dead but had been killed. The boys’ coffins were displayed before a cheering crowd on Feb. 20. A funeral for the three is planned near Kibbutz Nir Oz on Wednesday, where they were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. The public has been asked to line the funeral procession route.
Deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus referred to Gaza as “a depraved society,” stating on Fox News that it needed to be demilitarized and deradicalized.
Hamas criticized Israel’s decision to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners on Feb. 23, denying that the hostage ceremonies were humiliating and accusing Netanyahu of trying to disrupt the cease-fire agreement purposely.
The White House expressed support for Israel’s choice to postpone the prisoners’ release on Sunday. It cited Hamas’s treatment of Israeli hostages as barbaric and justified the delay as an appropriate response in a statement from National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes.
Hughes mentioned that President Trump was ready to support Israel in its decisions concerning Hamas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with EU counterparts in Brussels on Feb. 24 and indicated that Israel was willing to extend the cease-fire in Gaza if more hostages were released by Hamas.
According to the Times of Israel, Sa’ar stated, “It will not happen without the release of hostages,” during a meeting with foreign ministers from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, and Slovakia.
A drone view shows Palestinians and terrorists gathering around Red Cross vehicles in Khan Yunis on Feb. 20, 2025, as the Hamas terrorist group hands over the bodies of deceased hostages Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were abducted during the Hamas-led deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The body said to be that of Shiri Bibas later turned out to be the remains of an unidentified Gazan woman. Reuters/Stringer
Israel remains focused on its objectives, aiming to secure the release of the hostages and dismantle Hamas’s military and governing capacities to prevent future threats to Israel.
Sa’ar is engaging with the EU’s Association Council for the first time since 2022 to discuss the Gaza humanitarian situation, Israeli–Palestinian relations, and evolving regional dynamics.
The first phase of the cease-fire involved an agreement to exchange 33 Israeli hostages, alive or deceased, for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences for terrorism prior to Oct. 7, 2023.
Posters of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, now informally called the “Hostages Square,” on Feb. 19, 2025. Jack Guez/AFP
One prisoner released on Feb. 15, serving multiple life sentences for planning a 2003 suicide bombing, died in East Jerusalem on Saturday, Feb. 22. Nael Obeid, the leader of an East Jerusalem Hamas cell, orchestrated an attack that claimed seven lives and injured 57.
The bombing’s victims included Dr. David Applebaum, head of Shaare Zedek Hospital’s emergency room, and his daughter Nava. Obeid was arrested the following year. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.
Contributions from The Associated Press and Reuters.
