President Donald Trump listens as Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Steve Witkoff said a ceasefire deal and hostage release may soon be announced.
By World Israel News Staff
Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff expressed optimism on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and end the war could soon come to fruition.
Speaking at the Concordia Summit during the UN General Assembly in New York, Witkoff said that the Trump administration had shared details of a peace proposal with Arab and Muslim leaders.
“We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza,” Witkoff said. “We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”
Witkoff stressed that the plan “addresses Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region.”
According to Hebrew-language Channel 12 news, Israeli officials have yet to see the proposal in detail but believe the Trump administration “would not force a proposal on Israel it doesn’t believe in.”
Speaking to media at the UN, French President Emmanuel Macron said that President Trump was aligned with European leaders on the future of Gaza.
France and other European countries, including the UK, Portugal, Andorra and others, recently announced their decision to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state.
The Trump administration is staunchly opposed to the move, arguing that doing so rewards the October 7 attacks.
Notably, Macron also claimed that the Trump administration opposes Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria, an option many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have suggested as a response to international recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“What President Trump told me yesterday was that the Europeans and Americans have the same position” on annexation, Macron said.
Currently, the Israeli army is engaging in an intensified offensive in the Gaza City aimed at rooting out the last remaining Hamas battalions and infrastructure in the city.
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