The six-week ceasefire deal only just went into effect on Sunday, though President Donald Trump has stated he is “not confident” that this deal will be upheld while acknowledging that Hamas is “very weakened.” In assessing Trump’s comment, Wiktoff, the president’s incoming special envoy to the Middle East, did not disagree with the president, citing how achieving the deal in the first place was “a big step” in negotiating between Israel and Hamas, adding that he will be traveling to Israel soon as an inspection team.

TRUMP’S HOSTAGE DEAL, BOTH GOOD AND BAD

“But we have to make sure that the implementation goes well,” Witkoff said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “Because if it goes well, we’ll get into phase two, and we’re going to get a lot more live bodies out, and I think that that is what the president’s directive to me and everybody else working in the American government on this. That’s his directive and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Witkoff was also asked about the possibility of Israel and Saudi Arabia reaching a peace deal that would draw in other countries in the Middle East, to which Witkoff detailed how there has been talk of a “normalization deal” that he considered “an amazing opportunity for the region.” Specifically, he argued this would benefit the region because “it becomes investible” and allow businesses and banks to feel confident in investing into the region.

As such, Witkoff argued that the region needed a “hopeful moment,” which he expressed hope that this was achieved through this ceasefire deal, which the United States will “build on.” 

“And so this is the beginning of that, and hopefully everything over there can be settled in that way,” Witkoff said. “If it’s possible, everyone will become a believer.”

Witkoff’s comments come after Israeli military officials announced a “counterterrorism operation” across the West Bank, focused on the city of Jenin, which began Tuesday and extended into Wednesday. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry, 10 were killed in the raid and 40 wounded, with another 25 arrested.

The first phase of the ceasefire deal went into effect on Sunday, with a second and third stage of the negotiations expected to follow after the fulfillment of the first phase’s obligations. Israel is expected to release around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in the next six weeks, while Hamas will be compelled to turn over the remaining 30 hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Trump took credit for this ceasefire deal being reached during a speech he delivered on Sunday evening, specifically mentioning Witkoff in helping achieve this deal. The president also took a shot at former President Joe Biden and how the deal was reached just before Trump’s inauguration, though Biden has stated that his administration and the incoming Trump administration worked as “one team” on the ceasefire deal.