By Pedro Rodriguez, Contributor Daily Caller News Foundation | March 24, 2025
Steve Witkoff, the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, told Fox News Sunday he may have been “duped” by Hamas when discussing a deal to bring the remaining Israeli and American hostages to safety.
Witkoff said the U.S. was close to securing a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered by U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari officials, that included provisions for the safe return of hostages held by Hamas. However, Witkoff said Hamas, who previously rejected his two mediation proposals that would have allowed more hostages to go free, may have “duped” the U.S. into a faulty peace deal as Israel resumed air strikes in the Gaza Strip on March 17.
“Well, I certainly hope we get everybody back to the table and get the hostages home,” Witkoff began, before saying that he thought he had achieved a deal during the Trump administration’s direct talks with Hamas over the release of hostages. “I was in Doha. I met with many of the Arab leaders at the Arab summit. I thought we had a deal, an acceptable deal. I even thought we had approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped. I thought we were there, and evidently we weren’t. So this is on Hamas.”
“Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarize, to accept the bridging proposal that would’ve given us a 40 or 50 day ceasefire where we could’ve discussed demilitarization and a final truce,” Witkoff continued. “There were all kinds of opportunities for them to do that, and they elected not to. And this becomes the alternative. It is unfortunate.”
“Do I think we would be amenable to a reach out from Hamas? Of course we would be. No different than in the Russian conflict, we want to end the killing. But we need to be clear who the aggressor is here, and that is Hamas,” he concluded.
According to reports, 59 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas custody. Among them, 58 were captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, including men, women, and children, while Hamas took one additional hostage earlier to that date. Israel suspects that 35 of these hostages have died, although they are still being held by Hamas. Four American hostages are reportedly dead, while hostage Edan Alexander of New Jersey is believed to be alive.
Pedro Rodriguez is a contributor at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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