Steve Witkoff, the White House Middle East envoy, spoke to CNN on Sunday, revealing that he plans to travel to the Middle East later this week to continue negotiations regarding an extension of phase one in the hostage and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“We have to get an extension of phase one, and so I’ll be going into the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that,” Witkoff explained.
He also shared his optimism, saying, “We’re hopeful that we have the proper time to begin phase two, and finish it off and get more hostages released.”
Last week, Witkoff expressed his hope that the positive momentum from phase one would continue into the next stage, especially considering the heartache endured by families with loved ones still in captivity.
“I hope a lot of the goodwill from the first [stage] carries over to [Stage] Two because there are a lot of families who have children there who are held hostage,” Witkoff remarked. He continued, “I have a lot of empathy because I lost a child. I talk to these families, and they want their children’s bodies back as much as those who have children alive.”
Witkoff further explained the difficulties involved in the negotiations, saying, “The issue with [Stage] Two is that there’s supposed to be an end to the war and the Israelis have a red line that Hamas cannot be in the government. It’s hard to square that circle, but we’re making a lot of progress in that conversation, and hopefully, it leads to good things and good results.”
{Matzav.com}