US Pressures ’Israel’ for Gaza Deal; Witkoff’s ’Israeli’ Rebuke Leaked

By Staff, Agencies

The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly pressuring "Israel" to agree to a ceasefire and a captive deal with Hamas before Trump's upcoming Middle East visit, according to "Haaretz."

An unnamed source familiar with the negotiations stated that the US has warned "Israeli" officials that if they do not cooperate in advancing such an agreement, "Israel" will be "left alone", implying a potential withdrawal of US diplomatic support.

The push for a deal comes as the Trump administration seeks to broker a resolution to the ongoing war in Gaza ahead of the president's regional trip.

A recent report, without citing a specific source, identified Steve Witkoff as the unnamed senior US official referenced in a Channel 12 story earlier this week.

According to that report, the official had criticized "Israel's" approach to the captive situation during a meeting with the captives' families, while the nature of the criticism and the full context of the remarks remain unspecified.

The official was quoted as warning: "If until today, the hostages paid the price for not ending the war, then today the price will be much heavier for 'Israel,' and not only the hostages."

The remarks also criticized "Israel" for failing to leverage the emerging US-Saudi nuclear deal, an agreement that, according to reports, President Trump has reportedly decoupled from the requirement for Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with the Zionist entity.

“If 'Israel' doesn’t come to its senses, the price of missing out will be higher than ever before,” the official, allegedly Witkoff, warned.

"Haaretz" further reports that Witkoff's criticism of Netanyahu's government was deliberately leaked to the media at his request, though his office has since denied that the Trump administration is pressuring "Israel" to reach a deal.

This comes amid an increasingly souring relationship between the United States and "Israel", which is reportedly leading Trump to pursue US policy in the Middle East while sidelining its "greatest ally in the Middle East".