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The president’s Middle East envoy signaled that the war would be settled before the end of the year, but seemed to rule out a temporary truce.
Aug. 27, 2025Updated 9:01 a.m. ET
President Trump was expected to chair a meeting on Wednesday focusing on plans for postwar Gaza, according to his Middle East envoy, as the United States and Israel seek a comprehensive deal that would end the conflict and return all of the remaining Israeli hostages.
For nearly two years, international mediators have sought to pause the war in Gaza. They managed to achieve partial agreements that freed some hostages and briefly stopped the fighting in Gaza, but they did not ultimately end the war.
On Tuesday, Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, appeared to rule out any piecemeal agreement that would bring home only some of the captives in exchange for a truce.
“We think we’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year,” Mr. Witkoff told Fox News in an interview.
The families of Israeli hostages have long called for a “full deal” to end the war in exchange for releasing the remaining hostages. But Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has set exacting conditions for any such agreement that Hamas is unlikely to accept.
Here’s what to know about the latest efforts to reach a cease-fire.
How close are we to a cease-fire in Gaza?
Months of efforts to broker a truce by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have stalled in recent weeks.
