The US is withdrawing its negotiating team from Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar after Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, pointed the finger at Hamas for a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”.

“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said on Thursday. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”

The announcement suggested a setback for diplomatic efforts to end the relentless siege, destruction and ruin of Gaza that has devastated the territory for more than 21 months. Israel also recalled its negotiating team following Hamas’s response, in effect suspending weeks of Qatar-mediated talks that had shown only limited progress. It’s also unclear what “alternative options” are under consideration.

According to a Haaretz report, Israeli sources described the teams’ recall as a coordinated move designed to pressure Hamas.

The announcement comes as Gaza endures cataclysmic humanitarian conditions. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 desperate and hungry people in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food according to the UN, with at least 85 Palestinians killed on Sunday alone.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday described the situation as “man-made mass starvation” caused by restrictions on aid deliveries.

Witkoff added that it was “a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way” while insisting the US remains “resolute” in ending the bombardment of Gaza, though American officials have consistently attributed negotiation failures to the Palestinian side.

The proposed deal under discussion would have established a 60-day ceasefire during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in staged phases. In exchange, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners, increase aid deliveries to Gaza, and both sides would enter negotiations for a permanent truce.

The talks had been bogged down over where Israeli troops would redeploy after any ceasefire – specifically whether Israel would maintain control of the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors – a sticking point that is proving insurmountable thus far. Israel also refuses to end the war until Hamas surrenders power and disarms, though Hamas has indicated a willingness to discuss stepping down from power under certain conditions.

The Haaretz report suggested that other sticking points include the areas from which Israel would withdraw during a pause in fighting, and the identities of the prisoners who would be released.

Thursday’s development comes in contrast with recent signs from the Trump administration, which had been optimistic about securing a breakthrough and had campaigned on ending foreign wars. A temporary ceasefire deal was last reached between Israel and Hamas in January, but collapsed after Israel launched surprise airstrikes in March that killed more than 400 people.

By JOHN O’CONNOR and SARAH RAZA, Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will move thousands of employees out of the nation’s capital in a reorganization the agency says will put them closer to customers while saving money, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday.

Around 2,600 workers — more than half the Washington, D.C. workforce — will be moved to five hubs stretching from North Carolina to Utah, Rollins said. The union representing federal workers immediately criticized the plan as a ploy to cut federal jobs, pointing out that some 95% of the department’s employees already work outside Washington.

The move is part of President Donald Trump’s effort to make the federal government slimmer and more efficient, which received a Supreme Court boost this month.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement.

The goal is to re-size the department so that costs don’t outstrip available finances, as well as eliminate layers of management and consolidate redundant functions, the statement said. The department expects the plan to take several months.

The five hubs are in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis and Salt Lake City.

Although it’s important to be closer to farmers and ranchers, Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, said taking those employees out of Washington risks losing an important connection to Congress.

“You want that balance” to ensure effective farm policy, Hart said.

Much of the government savings could come from employees who choose not to relocate, Hart said. He added that the agricultural community is concerned about a “bumpy transition” reminiscent of similar action during Trump’s first term, when it took relocated Agriculture offices months to get up and running again.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union representing federal workers, had a sharper critique. He said about 85% of all federal employees already work outside the capital, but insisted Washington “is the center of our nation’s government for a reason.”

Workers at headquarters help coordinate between senior leaders and field offices, Kelley said, and they ensure the agency has a “seat at the table” when lawmakers and the White House make decisions that affect farmers nationwide.

“I’m concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work,” the union leader said.

The Agriculture Department reported that its headcount grew by 8% over the past four years, with salaries increasing by 14.5%. The statement from Rollins said the 4,600 employees in and around Washington are “underutilized and redundant” and housed in underused buildings with billions of dollars in deferred maintenance.

In the Washington region, the department will vacate three buildings and examine the best use of three others. One building set to be abandoned has $1.3 billion in needed but delayed maintenance and has room for 6,000 employees while only housing 1,900.

Wages will fall too, Rollins promised. The capital region is among the nation’s costliest to live, and department employees there are paid a surcharge of 34% to keep ahead of the cost of living. The surcharges range from 17.1% in Salt Lake City to 30.5% in Fort Collins.

Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff accuses Palestinian group of showing ‘a lack of desire’ to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said he is cutting short talks aimed at reaching a truce in Israel’s war on Gaza, after the latest proposal from Hamas showed “a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”.

Witkoff made the announcement in a statement on Thursday, just hours after the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had also recalled its negotiating team from Qatar amid the latest diplomatic flurry.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. The group has repeatedly accused Israel of blocking a ceasefire agreement.

Earlier in the day, Hamas had submitted its latest response to a ceasefire framework floated by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US. Netanyahu’s office confirmed receipt of the response, and said it was under review. Neither side disclosed the contents.

Both Israel and Hamas are facing growing international pressure to reach an agreement as the humanitarian and hunger crisis in the territory continues to deteriorate sharply amid Israel’s severe restrictions on the entry of aid.

At least 115 people have died from malnutrition since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, mostly in recent weeks, as the United Nations and aid agencies have warned that Gaza’s residents were facing mass starvation.

“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said in a statement.

“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said, without elaborating.

Advertisement

Witkoff, a businessman with no formal diplomatic experience prior to his appointment, said the US remains “resolute” in seeking an end to the war in Gaza, adding it was “a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way”.

The current proposal under discussion has been reported to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living captives and the remains of 18 others. In turn, Palestinians imprisoned by Israel would be released and aid supplies would be ramped up as the two sides held negotiations on a lasting truce.

Details of the current sticking point were not immediately clear, but officials from both sides have previously pointed to a dispute over what would happen in the wake of any new ceasefire.

Israel has repeatedly said it plans to deploy the military long term in Gaza, seeking a complete defeat of Hamas, despite warnings that such a goal is unrealistic.

Earlier this month, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz reportedly laid out a plan for the forced transfer of Palestinians to a “humanitarian city” within Gaza, a maximalist approach that critics say would violate international law.

Israel’s government has also faced domestic pressure over the plan, amid fears it would foreclose ceasefire negotiations and block the release of captives still held in Gaza.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi said it remained unclear whether the US withdrawal from the talks was a “negotiating tactic”.

“It’s a very sternly worded tweet, talking about ‘alternative options for a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,’” he said.

“We know that Trump simply hasn’t ruled out ethnic cleansing, so-called ‘self deportation’, in his words, of Palestinians.”

“Right now, we simply don’t know whether it’s a negotiating position or the end of the negotiations,” Rattansi said.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 59,587 Palestinians since it began in the wake of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed at least 1,139 people.

This week, more than 100 aid groups blamed Israel’s restrictions on aid for “mass starvation” in the enclave.