US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on Sunday (Mar 23)  that he may have been “duped” by Hamas as he initially believed the Palestinian militant group agreed to his bridge proposal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, only for it to reject the “acceptable deal”.

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“I thought we had an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped. I thought we were there, and evidently we weren’t,” Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday (Mar 23). 

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‘Bridge proposal’

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Witkoff’s “bridge” proposal, which he presented his bridge proposal on his Doha on March 12, aimed to extend the ceasefire through April 19 and release five living Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. This would allow time for negotiations on a permanent cessation of fighting. While Israel accepted the proposal, it said that it would have freed 11 living hostages.

Hamas, on the other hand, insisted on staying on the original terms of the deal, according to which the second phase of the truce was supposed to begin in March. However, Israel refused talks on specific terms of phase two as it requires it to fully withdraw from Gaza and bring the war to an end permanently.

Witkoff, who submitted his bridge proposal earlier this month, agreed to Israel’s reluctance on phase two.

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On March 14, Hamas offered to release the last living American hostage and four bodies of other US nationals, but Witkoff called the response ineffective. Israel resumed fighting in Gaza on March 18, breaking the ceasefire after two months.

‘This is on Hamas’

“This is on Hamas. The United States stands with the State of Israel. That’s a 100% commitment,” Witkoff told Fox News. “We’ve expressed that Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarize, to accept the bridging proposal that would have given us a 40- or 50-day ceasefire where we could have discussed demilitarization and a final truce. There were all kinds of opportunities to do that, and they elected not to.”

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“This (war) becomes the alternative, and it is unfortunate,” he said, adding that the US would be “amenable” if Hamas reached out again.

“I certainly hope we get everybody back to the table and get the hostages home.”

Witkoff earlier said on Friday (Mar 21) that the parties were already “talking,” after Israel resumed its attack in Gaza. 

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When asked about Iran recently, he reiterated his earlier statement on US President Donald Trump’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Al Khamenei.

“Our signal to Hamas and to Iran is: ‘Let’s sit down and see if we can through diplomacy get to the right place.’ If we can, we’re prepared to do that. If we can’t, the alternative is not a great alternative,” Witkoff said, adding that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

(With inputs from agencies)