Despite Israel’s repeated endorsements of the “Witkoff proposal” for a potential hostage deal, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s aides remain skeptical that Hamas will ever agree to the terms, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel. “It’s not going to happen,” the official stated bluntly. “Everyone is well aware of this.” The proposal, presented by US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Doha last week, calls for Hamas to release half of the living hostages at the start of an extended ceasefire, which would last until mid-April, coinciding with the end of Passover. The remaining hostages would potentially be freed at the conclusion of this period. While Israel continues to press for Hamas to accept the deal, officials acknowledge that the insistence is largely a negotiating tactic. “The goal is to get more than just American hostages out because that’s not acceptable in Israel,” the official explained, underscoring that Jerusalem is determined to secure the release of all hostages, not just those with US citizenship. On Friday, Hamas countered with an offer to release Edan Alexander, the last known Israeli-American hostage, while returning the bodies of four others with dual Israeli-US citizenship—Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, Gadi Haggai, and Judy Weinstein—in exchange for extending the truce and freeing additional Palestinian prisoners. Both Israel and the United States swiftly rejected the Hamas proposal, with Witkoff suggesting it was not made in good faith. Israeli officials have made it clear that if Hamas refuses to release non-US hostages, the ceasefire will not hold indefinitely. “There are war plans crafted,” the Israeli official warned. “There won’t be an endless amount of time—several weeks at the very most.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)