Tel Aviv [Israel], August 3 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are engaged in advanced negotiations on a new comprehensive hostage and ceasefire proposal, issuing a clear ultimatum to Hamas over the release of hostages and the future of the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing N12 on Saturday night.
According to the report, the proposal includes a demand for Hamas to disarm and release all hostages immediately. Once these conditions are met, the United States would lead an international administration to be established in the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post said.
"We know from testimonies of freed hostages and from the information we have today that the hostages' captors do not appear this way," a senior Israeli official was cited as saying by The Jerusalem Post. "This is deliberate starvation not only to abuse the hostages themselves but to torment their families and the public," the official added.
Earlier in May, during a state visit to Qatar, Trump had suggested that the US should take control of the Gaza Strip, deal with Hamas, and transform the region into a "freedom zone," The Jerusalem Post recalled.
"If it's necessary, I think I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone," Trump said during a business roundtable. "Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with," he was quoted as saying.
The Jerusalem Post noted that this proposed plan marks a significant potential shift in US involvement in the Gaza conflict, pending Hamas' response to the ultimatum.
However, in a development that casts doubt on the proposal's viability, Al Jazeera reported that Hamas has dismissed reports suggesting any willingness to disarm, reaffirming its "national and legal" right to resist Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian group issued a statement on Saturday in response to comments allegedly made by United States President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, during a meeting with relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza.
Citing a recording of the conversation, Israeli outlet Haaretz reported that the US envoy told the families Hamas was "prepared to be demilitarised." However, Hamas firmly denied the claim.
In its statement, Hamas said, "The resistance and its weapons are a national and legal right as long as the [Israeli] occupation persists." It added that this right "cannot be relinquished until our full national rights are restored, foremost among them the establishment of a fully sovereign, independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," according to Al Jazeera.
Witkoff had met the families in Tel Aviv on Saturday, a day after visiting a US and Israeli-backed aid distribution site in Gaza run by the controversial GHF group. Hamas previously criticised the envoy's visit as a "staged show" intended to mislead the public about conditions in the enclave, Al Jazeera reported.
The group pointed to worsening humanitarian conditions, highlighting a United Nations report stating that more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access food at GHF-run sites since the organisation began operating in Gaza in May.
Despite growing international criticism of the group's operations, the Trump administration has stood firmly behind GHF. In June, Washington announced $30 million in funding support for the organisation, Al Jazeera reported.
Witkoff's remarks on disarmament come amid intensifying global efforts to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues. At a two-day United Nations conference in New York this week, the United Kingdom said it may follow France in recognising a Palestinian state in September if Israel does not implement a ceasefire.
Echoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer's earlier stance, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK would proceed with recognition under specific conditions. The UN meeting also saw 17 countries, along with the European Union and the Arab League, endorse a seven-page document supporting a two-state solution.
The text called on Hamas to "end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," Al Jazeera reported.