US rebuts Hamas’s ‘entirely impractical’ ceasefire demands

Apparent rejection of new offer to free US-Israeli hostage dashes hopes of progress but will please Tel Aviv

The Trump administration has accused Hamas of making entirely impractical" demands and stalling on a deal to release a US-Israeli hostage in exchange for an extension of the Gaza ceasefire.

Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not," the office of Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the US national security council said in a statement. Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes," it said, adding that Trump had already vowed Hamas would pay a severe price" for not freeing hostages.