The envoy of the White House Steve Witkoff pushes for all the hostages of Gaza at home this week

The special envoy of the White House, Steve Witkoff, said that he was pressure so that all hostages are always organized in the Gaza Strip this week, although negotiations with Hamas always seem to be an impasse.

“We categorically want, and I am the management of the president here when I say that, all these hostages at home this week,” said Witkoff in Bret Bret Bret of Fox News on “Special Report” on Tuesday evening.

“There has been an agreement on the table in the last six or seven weeks which would have published 10 of the hostages out of the 20 which, in our opinion, are alive,” he said, noting that he believes that Hamas is “100%” to blame for maintenance.

“It is Hamas that slowly played this process, and it is now Hamas that says that we accept this agreement,” added Witkoff.

The demonstrators hold photos of hostages while they walk during a rally calling on the Israeli government to sign an agreement to release the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, on August 26, 2025, in Tel Aviv, in Israel. (Images Amir Levy / Getty)

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Witkoff did not enter into detail on what specifically maintains the return of the hostages that were selected captive in the Gaza Strip for almost two years after the attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel.

But the reports suggested on Tuesday that the Israeli security firm refused to revise an agreement that would see the partial release of the hostages and Witkoff confirmed that the “official position” of Jerusalem is a complete return of hostages or without a cease-fire contract while it advances with its plans to take Gaza City.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, the Smarting and Family Forum, a group that represents the hostage families, said that it was “hope that with this agreement on the table, we will finally see our loved ones return”.

Steve Witkoff’s special envoy welcomes hostage parents held in Gaza on Place des Otages in Tel Aviv, May 13, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images)

“Time is exhausted, and we know that it is only in finalizing this agreement that we can bring the 50 hostages home-those who are alive to start their healing trip, and those who have been tragically lost to receive a worthy funeral,” he added. “We don’t have any time left – let’s over this agreement now.”

But the forum also published a public statement on Tuesday after the reports said that Israel refused to revise a partial return agreement and said: “It is deeply disappointing that the same day the masses of the Israeli arrive in the street to demand the return of all hostages and the end of the war, the government continues to delay the agreement, unlike the will of the people.”

The demonstrators meet at Outages Square in Tel Aviv, in Israel, calling at the end of the attacks against Gaza and at the exit of the Israeli hostages on August 24, 2025. (Yair Palti / Anadolu via Getty Images)

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A demonstration of some 350,000 people took place Tuesday evening on the hostage square in Israel in Tel Aviv, according to the forum, only a few days after another massive demonstration in the streets of Tel Aviv, in which the families of hostages and supporters once again called the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to achieve a Hamas affair.

Witkoff has argued that there can be negotiations after the hostages are returned for “what the next day … looks like Gaza after all this and what is the definition of Hamas” – suggesting that these problems remain major obstacles because Israel has repeatedly sworn the complete destruction of Hamas.

The special envoy said it was not his “call” to say if the terrorist network should be completely destroyed, but noted that there was room for negotiations in the return of hostages, because the Palestinian prisoners would also be exchanged in exchange.

Fifty yellow chairs, symbolizing the 50 detainees, were placed in the Place in hostage of Tel Aviv on August 24, 2025. (Yair Palti / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fifty hostages continue to be detained by Hamas, of which only 20 are assessed to be still alive.

President Donald Trump predicted on Monday that there would be a “conclusive” ending at the war in Gaza in the coming “three weeks”, although he did not say how it would be accomplished.

The forum responded to the declaration and said, “We pray that this is true and that you have given a deadline to end our suffering. You have committed yourself directly to release hostages that you bring all the hostages to the house – it is now time to get there.”

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Witkoff also said that Trump would organize a meeting at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a “day after” plan for Gaza, although it is not clear that will participate in this meeting.

When he was in a hurry for more details on the meeting, an official of the White House told Fox News Digital: “President Trump was clear that he wanted war, and he wants peace and prosperity for everyone in the region. The White House has nothing to share in the meeting for the moment.”