US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to return to the region in the coming days to work out a way to either extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.
"Special Envoy Witkoff plans to return to the region in the coming days to work out either a way to extend Phase I or advance to Phase II," the spokesperson said.
"The President has made clear, and Secretary Rubio has repeatedly said all the hostages must be released immediately, and that includes American hostages."
Earlier on Monday, a source told The Jerusalem Post that Wiktoff would only visit the region “to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”
Officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.
Witkoff's framework
Earlier this week, after the 43-day ceasefire expired, Israel accepted Witkoff's framework, which would see Hamas releasing half of the living hostages and returning half of the bodies on the first day of the deal.
The rest of the hostages would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the last day of the ceasefire.
Hamas is currently refusing the proposal.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.