US, Israel recall Gaza negotiators with progress on truce talks unclear

Eric Martin, Ethan Bronner, Fiona MacDonald and Alisa Odenheimer, Bloomberg News on Jul 24, 2025

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Talks for a ceasefire in Gaza were dealt a new blow on Thursday after the U.S. and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams, with the Trump administration saying Hamas is not acting in good faith.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his ceasefire negotiators will return to Israel from Qatar for further consultations. U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff said in a statement that the U.S. was doing the same. They made the decision after Israel received Hamas’s response to mediators’ proposal for a 60-day truce.

“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the breakdown in talks, but Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Hamas wants the release of 200 prisoners serving life sentences and another 2,000 arrested in Gaza after Oct. 7, 2023, the day the Palestinian militant group triggered the war by attacking southern Israel.

Those are higher than the original proposal that won Israel’s agreement, Channel 12 reported. The station also said there were issues around a potential Israeli troop pullback and a Hamas demand for U.S. guarantees that the ceasefire will go on beyond 60 days as long as talks continue.

Public broadcaster Kan News said Hamas was also insisting that Israel free some people who joined the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“We are determined to achieve all the goals of the war,” Netanyahu said in a speech on Thursday. “We are working to achieve another deal to release our hostages. But if Hamas perceives our willingness to reach a deal as weakness and an opportunity to dictate terms of surrender that would endanger the State of Israel, it is making a big mistake.”

The latest disagreement deals a fresh blow to the talks, weeks after President Donald Trump said a deal was close.

The Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 abducted. Of those, 50 hostages are still in Gaza, with roughly 20 thought by Israel to be alive.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel has lost more than 400 troops in Gaza combat.

A major dispute in the ceasefire negotiations, officials from both sides say, concerns a Hamas demand for the restoration of a United Nations-administered relief network that Israel sidelined over claims the Palestinian militant group was stealing food and medicine.

Earlier Thursday, scores of aid groups said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse than ever and that starvation is spreading.

“This humanitarian catastrophe lies at the feet of Hamas, who can end this conflict today by releasing the hostages and laying down their arms,” State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said at a briefing in Washington.

He added that the U.S. is trying to get as much aid into Gaza as possible without having it taken by Hamas.

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(With assistance from Dan Williams, John Bowker, Paul Wallace, Carla Canivete and Nick Wadhams.)

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