The Trump administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, criticized Israel in a meeting with hostage families, according to a Sunday evening report by Channel 12.
"We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not willing to end the war. Israel is prolonging it despite the fact that we don’t see where else we can go and that an agreement must be reached," Witkoff commented during the meeting, according to sources present.
However, he added an optimistic message, saying that "There is currently an opportunity window that we hope Israel and all the mediators will take advantage of. We are putting pressure on all the mediators and doing everything we can to bring the hostages home."
The relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump "has become strained," according to sources who spoke to NBC News on Sunday.
The relationship started off strong when Trump returned to the presidency in January, with both closely aligned on how to approach the Israel-Hamas War and Iranian aggression in the Middle East.
Hamas expected to announce release of Israeli-American hostage
Hamas will release Israeli-American hostage soldier Edan Alexander, sources involved in hostage negotiations told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Estimates say the release could take place in the coming 48 hours, sources told the Post.
Alexander's parents confirmed the development to Channel 12, stating, "We are waiting for Hamas's announcement, and Witkoff updated us that this is expected to happen." Witkoff is expected to visit Israel on Monday.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.