U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for an all-or-nothing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would see the end of hostilities and all hostages returned.
His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff told hostage families the news over the weekend and said there can be “no piecemeal deals” in a leaked audio from Israeli news site Ynet.
“Now, we think that we have to shift this negotiation to all or nothing. Everybody comes home,” Witkoff says later in the recording of the meeting with hostage families, which was also reported on by The New York Times.
Daniel Lifshtiz corroborated the comments, saying Witkoff spoke to hostage families for nearly three hours and that Witkoff said the U.S. was looking “shift from partial deal to a full-scale deal”.
“He spoke about shifting because there is nothing else to do now,” Lifshitz told NBC News.
Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Daniel Lifshitz's grandparents, Oded and Yocheved Lifshitz, were among the around 250 people taken hostage in the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leans towards expanding military operations for a full “conquest of the Strip”.
“The die is cast – we’re going for full conquest. If the Chief of Staff doesn’t agree – he should resign,” a senior official close to Netanyahu told Israel’s Ynet.
