Hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been at an impasse in recent days, since Hamas’s response to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release deal, two sources familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

The lack of progress would appear to belie the optimism expressed by some mediators last week that Hamas would agree to soften its initial response to Witkoff’s proposal, a response that was declared “unacceptable” by the US envoy.

The US proposal offered a 60-day truce in the war-torn Gaza Strip, accompanied by a partial Israeli military withdrawal and increased humanitarian aid deliveries, in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages.

Hamas’s response to the offer included a demand that would make it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire were not completed by the end of the 60-day truce. It also envisioned the release of the 10 living hostages being spread out throughout the truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh day as the US offer had stipulated.

Witkoff told hostage families in Washington last week that he was optimistic about the chances for a breakthrough before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began on Friday and ends on Tuesday, according to a source present at the meeting.

Even if such a breakthrough had been reached, however, and Hamas had submitted a softened response, the sides would still need to hold a round of proximity talks to confirm final details, such as the exact parameters of Israel’s partial military withdrawal during the temporary truce.

But the chance of a breakthrough happening at all would appear to be slim, as Hamas is standing by its demand for clearer wording that prevents Israel from resuming the war if terms on a permanent ceasefire are not reached during the 60-day truce, an Arab official from one of the mediating countries said.

The proposal currently leaves open a window for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire do not bear fruit within 60 days.

Witkoff has been urging mediators to lean on Hamas to soften its demands, insisting that once a deal is reached on a temporary truce, the US will make sure that the ceasefire is made permanent, the Arab official said.

But Hamas does not want to trust the US envoy’s word alone, pointing to Israel’s decision to resume the war in March rather than hold talks on a permanent ceasefire as the terms of the January ceasefire had stipulated, the Arab official said.

The official maintained that the US to date has mistakenly accepted Israel’s aversion to a permanent ceasefire, arguing that Jerusalem needs to be pressured by Washington to change course.

“If Israel agreed to a permanent ceasefire, [it] could get all of the hostages back at once,” the Arab official said. “Instead [it’s] trying to fight until the last Hamas fighter, and this will never end.”

Asked whether pressure needed to also be placed on Hamas, the Arab official insisted that the mediators have been leaning on the terror group and that it has resulted in its willingness to accept a temporary framework.

But Hamas’s response to the proposal made it clear that the terror group is seeking to block Israel from resuming the war, meaning the temporary truce would effectively be a permanent one, the Arab official acknowledged.

Still, a second source familiar said that mediators are continuing to push Hamas to soften its response.

If enough progress is made in moving Hamas, Witkoff may be dispatched to the region to finalize an agreement, the second source said, but mediators don’t want the US envoy to make the trip unless they’re confident a deal can be closed.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 54 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, as well as the body of a soldier killed in 2014.

Of those still held in Gaza, 20 are believed to be alive and 33 have been confirmed dead. There are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.

After Israel recovered the bodies of hostages Pinta Nattapong, Gadi Haggai, and Judih Weinsten last week, Hamas claimed on Saturday that Israeli troops were now “besieging” the area where hostage Matan Zangauker was being held. The terror group threatened to execute him should troops come near.

A photo accompanying the statement showed Zangauker propped up on his side next to an IV drip bag.

Zangauker’s mother, Einav, a key figure in the protest movement demanding that the government reach a hostage deal and end the war, has intensified her efforts in the wake of the Hamas update about her son’s condition and new information received from released US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

She told Channel 12 on Sunday evening that when Alexander was released last month, the pair’s Hamas captors had lied and told Matan he would be released along with him.

She said that on the day of Alexander’s release, their captors instructed Matan to prepare to leave as well, and told him he would soon be back in Israel with his family. But then, when Alexander was released, they told Matan he would be staying behind, alone.

As he had believed he was being released as well, Matan did not pass on any message for his family via Alexander, Zangauker said.

Alexander also told Matan’s family that he has been suffering from increasingly severe health issues, including continuous periods of intestinal problems and stomach pains, and has developed muscular dystrophy, a disease that several members of his family also suffer from.

“The reason I haven’t been interviewed since Edan returned to us is because the testimonies I’ve heard from him make me collapse,” Zangauker told Channel 12 when asked about her son’s health.

“I know from these testimonies that Matan has decided in recent months to stop eating; he regularly suffers from stomach pain that leaves him in a fetal position on his mattress in the tunnel,” she shared. “He has closed himself off and no longer speaks — not to his captors and not to Edan during his final days in captivity. His mental state is deteriorating, but even worse than that — now he is alone.”

She reiterated her fears for her son in remarks delivered outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday, where she was joined by Matan’s partner, Ilana Gritzewsky, who was abducted to Gaza along with him and released in November 2023.

“My Matan, we’re fighting for you every day,” said Zangauker, addressing her son directly. “Don’t give up, don’t give up — we won’t give up on you here. We haven’t forgotten and we won’t stop until you come back to us.”

Alongside Zangauker, Gritzewsky said that for the past 18 months, her reality has consisted of “going to bed and waking up in tears. Masking my face with a smile, to go out and fight.”

“I will continue to fight until our 55 hostages return — the murdered for burial and those who are alive for rehabilitation,” she vowed. “Those who were released are trying to rehabilitate — it is a false rehabilitation. Because it’s impossible to truly recover until all our brothers and sisters return.”