U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff has reportedly said the U.S. is pressuring Israel to reach a truce with Hamas ahead of Trump’s visit to the Middle East. According to unnamed sources cited by Haaretz, if Israel doesn’t move along with the U.S. toward such an agreement, Israel will be “left alone.” The report adds, without citing a source, that Steve Witkoff is the anonymous senior U.S. official cited by Channel 12 as criticizing Israel’s conduct in a meeting with families of hostages.
“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 official was quoted as saying. He added that Israel has failed to take advantage of the emerging U.S. nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, which Trump is reportedly no longer conditioning on Riyadh normalizing ties with the Jewish state, reported Times of Israel.
“If Israel doesn’t come to its senses, the price of missing out will be higher than ever before,” Witkoff reportedly added. Haaretz goes so far as to say that Witkoff himself requested for this to be leaked to the media, although Witkoff’s office is denying that the administration is pressuring Israel to reach a deal.