U.S. envoy airs plan as protesters demand return of hostages
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the United States has formulated a plan to return all of the remaining hostages, The Washington Post reported.
President Donald Trump "now believes that everybody should come home at once, no piecemeal deals," Witkoff said during the meeting that was recorded and televised in Israel.
He told the families that prior cease-fire agreements required exchanges of some hostages for Hamas prisoners being held in Israeli jails.
"That doesn't work, and we've tried everything," Witkoff said about U.S. efforts to release hostages who were captured when the U.S.-designated terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad attacked Israeli civilians without provocation on Oct. 7, 2023.
The attackers killed about 1,200 Israelis and others, and kidnapped about 250 more.
An estimated 30 of the remaining 50 hostages likely are dead, and Witkoff said U.S. officials want half of the remaining 20 hostages released on the first day of a cease-fire, followed by the rest shortly thereafter.
Witkoff also said Hamas is ready to disarm and release hostages, but many of the families' representatives are concerned several of the living hostages would not be released if they are not among the first group to return to Israel.
Hamas denied it is willing to lay down its arms and said it only would do so upon recognition of a Palestinian state, the BBC reported.
Several officials in Arab states during the past week have called on Hamas to lay down its arms and end its control of Gaza.
Witkoff met with representatives of about 40 of the hostages' families for two hours after attending a protest in Hostage Square earlier Saturday.
The protest occurred after Hamas and Islamic Jihad earlier this week released video footage of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyator David, along with images of starving Palestinian children, according to a CNN report.
International pressure to end the war in Gaza has increased amid reports of Gazans being killed while seeking food at aid sites run by the U.S.-and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The United Nations says at least 1,373 Gazans have been killed while trying to get food and other humanitarian aid since the GHF began distributing meals in late May.
Hamas and others blame Israel for the deaths, but Israeli and GHF officials say Hamas is attacking aid workers and killing Gazans who seek aid that it cannot control.
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