President Trump has made it clear that Hamas will either release hostages immediately, or pay a severe price. On Wednesday evening in Doha, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and National Security Council Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa Eric Trager presented a “bridge” proposal to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover, and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire. Under the “bridge” proposal, Hamas would release living hostages in exchange for prisoners in accordance with previous formulas; the phase-one ceasefire would be extended to enable the resumption of significant humanitarian assistance; and the U.S. would work towards a durable solution to this intractable conflict during the extended ceasefire period. Through our Qatari and Egyptian partners, Hamas was told in no uncertain terms that this “bridge” would have to be implemented soon — and that dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately. Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire. Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not. Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes. |
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