White House source: US pressuring Israel to make deal with Hamas before Trump’s Mideast visit

Israel’s Channel 12 news suggests that Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is the anonymous source, although his office denies it.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Trump administration is reportedly pressuring Israel to reach a hostage exchange and ceasefire deal before the president visits the Middle East, and is indicating that, failing this, Israel may be “left alone.”

Israel’s Channel 12 news suggests that Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is the anonymous source, although Witkoff’s office denies the US is applying pressure on Israel to reach an agreement with Hamas.

“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 reportedly said.

They added, “If Israel doesn’t come to its senses, the price of missing out will be higher than ever before.”

The source also criticized Israel for missing the opportunity for normalization with Saudi Arabia, which could have been a component of the nuclear agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, the Trump administration dropped its recognition of Israel as a condition for the nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia to proceed.

Saudi Arabia was prepared to normalize relations with Israel, but insisted that Jerusalem must agree to take meaningful steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian State, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.

Israel was reportedly taken off guard when Trump agreed to a ceasefire with the Houthis, with the Iran-backed terror group saying that it would continue to attack Israel as long as the war in Gaza continues.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has denied suspicions that the US is pulling away from its Israel support in its recent agreements with Saudi Arabia, the ongoing Iran nuclear negotiations, and its planned deal with Saudi Arabia.

“Under [US President Donald] Trump, the special relationship has never been stronger,” he tells reporters at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

In addition, Huckabee said it was “wholly inaccurate” that the US-led humanitarian mission to Gaza was intended to undermine Israel, and added that such assumptions were “off the mark.”

He said the humanitarian aid efforts would be “ongoing,” but Israel’s involvement in securing aid distribution would be only “on the perimeters.”