US Special Envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff denied on Monday claims that Hamas had accepted his hostage deal proposal, calling on the terror group to agree to a temporary ceasefire offer that he said Israel will approve.

Earlier in the day, several foreign media sites cited unnamed Hamas officials declaring that the group had accepted an updated proposal from Witkoff.

But Witkoff poured cold water on the apparent breakthrough, telling the Axios news site, “What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable.”

The US envoy went on to assert that “Israel will agree to a temporary ceasefire that would see half of the living and deceased hostages return, and lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire, which I agreed to preside over.”

“That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it,” Witkoff said.

A Palestinian official speaking to The Times of Israel accused Witkoff of walking back previous understandings.

The official claimed that Witkoff initially informed Hamas through an intermediary that he accepted the alterations the group had made to his proposal for a temporary ceasefire.

This led to a series of media reports claiming that the group had accepted Witkoff’s proposals, the official explained.

But Witkoff then changed his mind, informing intermediaries that what Hamas had presented was not acceptable to him, the Palestinian official said.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Witkoff flatly denied the Palestinian official’s claim and referred to his earlier statement to Axios.

Witkoff has been negotiating with Hamas through Palestinian-American political activist Bishara Bahbah, who has been in Doha since last week. Bahbah operated a backchannel that was integral in securing the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander earlier this month.

Hebrew media outlets quoted unnamed Israeli officials on Monday, blaming Bahbah for discussing with Hamas a proposal that went beyond what Witkoff was offering.

The deal being discussed would see around 10 living hostages and 10 bodies of hostages, along with hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, released in two stages during a roughly two-month ceasefire. During that time, Israel and Hamas would hold negotiations on the terms of a permanent truce, with the US providing assurances that it would keep Israel at the table.

Hamas is seeking guarantees from the mediators that Israel will hold negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire, after it had agreed to do so as part of the last hostage deal signed in January, but ultimately refused, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the resumption of the war in March.

The Palestinian official told The Times of Israel that, while Hamas is prepared to accept an interim ceasefire deal that leads to a permanent ceasefire, it remains willing to release all of the remaining hostages at once if Israel agrees up-front to end the war.

“All of this talk about the phases is because of Netanyahu,” the Palestinian official said.

Hamas is “prepared to return all of the hostages now if [Netanyahu] agrees to end the war,” the official added. Netanyahu has rejected this trade, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power. But repeated polls have shown that a majority of Israelis back this exchange and believe Netanyahu is extending the war in order to remain in power, given that his coalition partners have threatened to collapse the government if he agrees to a permanent ceasefire.

A source directly involved in the negotiations told The Times of Israel on Monday that the talks remain stuck, adding that mediators have yet to come up with a framework for a temporary deal that allows Hamas to claim that it will lead to a permanent end to the war, while also allowing Israel to claim that it has not made an up-front commitment for a permanent ceasefire.

Separately Monday, Netanyahu said during a video statement he hoped to make an announcement regarding hostages held in Gaza “today or tomorrow.”

The comment sparked a flood of inquiries from hostage families surprised to hear that a breakthrough was on the horizon.

Netanyahu’s office then issued a clarification, explaining that the premier’s comments should not be seen as a signal of an impending deal.

“The prime minister meant that we will not give up on freeing our hostages, and if we don’t achieve that, hopefully in the coming days, we will achieve it later on,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that “Hamas continues to cling to its refusal.”

Hostage families lashed out at Netanyahu for getting their hopes up.

“We feel like we’re being abused,” said a statement attributed to hostage families that was aired on Channel 12. “Every comment like this makes our already broken hearts leap. The expectation, when it comes to such a sensitive subject, is that they will show the minimum sensitivity and choose their words carefully.”

Hostage Matan Zangauker’s mother Einav tweeted, “Netanyahu is abusing us day and night, while my Matan is alone in the tunnel.”

Netanyahu also falsely claimed in the Monday video that the January hostage deal was signed after he replaced the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad with his confidant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, as head of Israel’s negotiating team. In fact, that shake-up did not take place until February. Since then, only Alexander has been released, but Dermer was not involved in those negotiations.

While US President Donald Trump is increasingly speaking of his desire to quickly and permanently end the conflict in Gaza, Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Israel dismantles Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, frees the hostages, demilitarizes Gaza, exiles Hamas’s leaders, and implements Trump’s plan to relocate Gazans.

Proponents of a ceasefire have argued that Israel has already maximized its military gains against Hamas, and that the IDF is currently fighting an insurgency that will remain in Gaza, as long as Netanyahu refuses to stand-up a viable Palestinian alternative to Hamas rule. Arab countries have pushed for the Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza and have offered to assist in the post-war management of the Strip if invited by the PA, but Netanyahu has refused, likening the authority to Hamas.

Netanyahu called back the Israeli negotiation team from Doha last week, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept Witkoff’s proposal for a short-term ceasefire in exchange for the release of half the living hostages, which Israel agreed to.

Negotiations are unfolding as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Israel partially lifted its blockade last week, after 78 days during which no humanitarian aid was allowed in. Israel announced that a new US-backed initiative for distributing aid in a manner that circumvents Hamas would begin operating on Monday, but that reportedly did not happen due to logistical issues.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 58 hostages — 57 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said. The body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014 is also being held.