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Hamas 'Will Not Disarm' Unless Palestinian State Founded
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, AUG 2 – Nearly 22 months into the Gaza conflict, about 20 of 251 hostages remain alive, and families demand stronger efforts for their release, officials said.
- On Saturday, August 2, 2025, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met families of Israeli hostages at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, as fears for their survival grew nearly 22 months into the war.
- After talks broke down last month, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed the meeting amid protests urging stronger action.
- Families greeted Witkoff with chants of `bring them home` and `we need your help`, while Palestinian armed groups released two videos of emaciated hostages and Israeli media called them propaganda.
- The Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated that Witkoff had given a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages, while Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warned, `If not, the combat will continue without rest`.
- Despite announced pauses, gunfire and shelling persist along convoy routes near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, Israel’s offensive has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, and UN agencies warn that more than two million civilians face starvation.
38 Articles
38 Articles
U.S. has 'very, very good plan' to end war in Gaza, envoy tells hostage families
U.S. President Donald Trump has made ending the conflict in Gaza a major priority of his administration, though negotiations have faltered. Steve Witkoff is visiting Israel as its government faces mounting pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
American emissary Steve Witkoff met Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv on Saturday, whose plight in Israel is increasingly unworthy, after nearly 22 months of captivity in the Gaza Strip, and the broadcast of videos by their jailers.
Hamas is starving the hostages. Only a dramatic Trump intervention can save them
Until U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoy Steven Witkoff decide they've had enough with Netanyahu's time-wasting maneuvers and goal-post-moving spins, the war in Gaza will not end
U.S. envoy meets Israeli hostage families in Tel Aviv
TEL AVIV — U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack.
The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met this Saturday in Tel Aviv with relatives of hostages held in Gaza, while the army...
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