US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff delivered a statement to the press on Thursday following the hosting of former Hamas captives at the White House and US President Donald Trump's most recent warnings to Hamas.
"The President was pretty blunt," he said. "It's time for Hamas to start acting in a responsible and reasonable way and we don't think that they have been doing that."
He addressed the fate of Edan Alexander, the only one of the five American citizens still held captive in Gaza who is believed to still be alive. "Edan Alexander is very important to us - as all the hostages are, but Edan Alexander is an American. And he's injured. So he's a top priority for us.
Witkoff also acknowledged the talks US hostage envoy Adam Boehler has been holding with Hamas. "We feel that Hamas has not been forthright with us and it's time for them to be forthright with us, and Edan Alexander would be a very important show [of goodwill]. We'll see how they're gonna react. The President has issued a statement about what's acceptable to him and what's not, and hopefully we'll see good behavior [from Hamas] next week and I'll be able to go in there and have discussions."
Despite the focus on Edan Alexander, he said that "lives matter" to Trump, not just American lives, but "all lives," including all of the remaining hostages.
When asked if Trump's latest statement means the US has abandoned the three-phase ceasefire arrangement, Witkoff said, "I think it's fairly clear [Trump] was saying, 'I've had enough.' There's a lot of mistreatment. There's a lot of conversation among these hostages about the deprivation that they went through, about murders that they saw. And I think the President listened to it, absorbed it, and said, 'It's unacceptable. I'm not going to tolerate this type of behavior."
"I wouldn't test President Trump," he added, saying that the understanding that Hamas cannot remain in power in Gaza remains.
When asked if the administration has a deadline for when progress in the hostage talks must be reached or the fighting in Gaza would resume, he answered in the affirmative but stated that he is "not at liberty" to reveal when that deadline would be.