U.S. President Trump’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, perhaps speaking on behalf of the President, criticized Netanyahu’s decision to continue the military operations in Gaza. According to Israeli media reports, Witkoff said that he was opposed to Israel’s continuation of the war in Gaza. ““Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made,” Times of Israel quoted him as saying, citing Israel’s Channel 12 TV. “Still, there is currently a window of opportunity that we hope Israel and all the mediators will take advantage of. We are putting pressure on all the mediators and doing everything to return the hostages.”
ToI further quoted Israeli officials as responding: “If there are no agreements by the end of [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s visit to the Middle East [on May 13-15], Israel will launch a ground operation and it will take several weeks until the next ‘exit point.’ Once we have begun the intensified operation, we won’t agree to quickly halt it. Hamas will not determine the timeline.”
