US special envoy Steve Witkoff has told CNN that a ceasefire-hostage deal for Gaza is currently on the table with a pathway to end the war, and urged Hamas to accept it. The proposal would see the release of half of the living hostages and half of those who have died in exchange for a temporary ceasefire before negotiations begin for a comprehensive agreement to end the war. He declined to specify how long that temporary truce would last, which has been a key issue in the negotiations. “Israel will agree to a temporary ceasefire/hostage deal that would see half of the living and half of the deceased return and lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire, which I have agreed to preside over,” Witkoff told CNN on Monday. “That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it.”

A Palestinian official said on Monday that Hamas has agreed to a proposal by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for a Gaza ceasefire, only for an Israeli official to deny that the proposal was Washington's and add that no Israeli government could accept it. Witkoff also rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza, telling Reuters that what he had seen was "completely unacceptable" and the proposal being discussed was not the same as his. The Palestinian official, who is close to Hamas, had told Reuters that the proposal would see the release of 10 hostages and a 70-day ceasefire and was received by Hamas through mediators. "The proposal includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas in two groups in return for a 70-day ceasefire and a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," the source said.

The latest Witkoff proposal includes the release of 10 living and 19 dead hostages in return for 45 to 60 days of ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners. “What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable,” Witkoff, a New York real estate billionaire, told Axios. He said Israel agreed to the terms of the deal he proposed, and that it would offer a path to a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. “I agreed to lead these negotiations. There is a deal on the table, and Hamas needs to accept it,” Witkoff told CNN Monday.The ceasefire “will lead to meaningful negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire,” he added.