US ends Gaza ceasefire talks, pulls team home from Qatar
Special envoy Steve Witkoff flagged that the US will now consider alternative options to bring Israeli hostages home.
'While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,' Mr Witkoff said.
He said it was 'a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way' and that the US is 'resolute' in seeking an end to the conflict in Gaza.
A breakthrough in talks on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration for months as conditions worsen in Gaza.
The territory recently had its deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war, with at least 85 Palestinians killed while trying to reach food on Sunday.
Dozens of people have starved to death in recent weeks in Gaza.
The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs.
Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's office recalled his country's negotiating team back to Israel in light of Hamas' response.
In a brief statement, the Prime Minister's office expressed its appreciation for the efforts of Witkoff and mediators Qatar and Egypt, but it gave no further details.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war.
Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war.
Israel says it will not agree to end the war until Hamas gives up power and disarms, a condition the militant group rejects.
The State Department said earlier in the week that Witkoff would be travelling to the Middle East for talks, but US officials later said that Witkoff would instead travel to Europe.
It was unclear if he was holding meetings there on Thursday.
Mr Trump earlier this month met Netanyahu at the White House, putting his weight behind a push to reach a breakthrough and a ceasefire agreement.
But despite his newly strengthened partnership with Netanyahu following their countries' joint strikes on Iran, the Israeli leader left Washington without any announced breakthrough.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
28 minutes ago
- West Australian
Trump deciding trade deals by August 1: Lutnick
US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal".
Perth Now
28 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Trump deciding trade deals by August 1: Lutnick
US President Donald Trump will make his trade deal decisions this week even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue, US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says ahead of Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline. US and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations following their framework announced on Sunday, Lutnick told CNBC in an interview, adding that talks with China were also "their own thing". "But for the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," he said in the interview. Asked about remaining uncertainties surrounding the US-EU agreement, Lutnick said Trump was working "to get things done now". .@POTUS: "We just signed a very big deal, as you know, with the European Union, but also with the United Kingdom ... A great deal for the country." Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 29, 2025 He said pharmaceuticals were a key part of the EU deal so that medicines made in EU member countries - home to several major drug makers - would have their products included in the 15 per cent tariff. "It was important for them to have pharmaceuticals be part of the deal at 15 per cent because President Trump is going to come out in the next two weeks with his pharmaceutical policy, and it is going to be higher," he said. South Africa's trade ministry said on Tuesday that it still wanted to negotiate a trade deal with the United States, before a 30 per cent tariff on its exports to the US is due to kick in on Friday. South Africa's government has been tight-lipped about its negotiations with the US administration ahead of the August 1 deadline, which comes as the two countries' relationship has deteriorated over South Africa's domestic race policy and its genocide case against Israel, which Israel denies. In a statement, the trade ministry said it was still waiting for "substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our framework deal".
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Trump opens golf course in Scotland before heading home
US President Donald Trump has formally opened a new golf course at his sprawling property in Scotland, saying he would play a quick round before heading home to focus on addressing crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. Trump, wrapping up a five-day visit to Scotland, was joined by former football players, golfers and business leaders for a first round of golf at his new second 18-hole course at Trump International near Aberdeen, Scotland. Initially billed as a private visit, the trip quickly morphed into a diplomatic mission, including a trade agreement sealed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bilateral meetings with British officials and phone calls aimed at ending a nascent war between Cambodia and Thailand. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump raised pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Asked at Tuesday's event what he would say to Netanyahu, Trump said he was trying to get things "straightened out". During his talks with Starmer, Trump said he disagreed with Netanyahu's assessment there was no starvation in Gaza, while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a much tighter deadline to make progress towards ending the war in Ukraine. Flanked by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, with several grandchildren nearby, Trump raved about the beauty of the new golf course in the dunes of northeastern Scotland, before teeing off. "I look forward to playing it today. We're going to play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new course, alluding in part to a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. "We stopped a war - we've stopped about five wars. So that's much more important than playing golf." Several nations have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a message endorsed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a social media post in recent days. Golfers Paul McGinley and Rich Beem teed off with Trump and his son Eric, and an eclectic mix of notable figures followed. Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker and top Ukraine goal-scorer Andriy Shevchenko, who is now the president of his country's football association, was a guest, as were fellow ex-football players Robbie Fowler, Gianfranco Zola and Jim Leighton. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who met with Trump earlier on Tuesday, also attended, along with Adrian Mardell, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who represents Britain's finance industry.
