The White House denounced Hamas’s response on Saturday to a new American cease-fire proposal as totally unacceptable and said it “only takes us backward” after the group sought firmer guarantees that the deal would lead to a permanent end to the war.

Under the U.S. proposal, which was floated by Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Mideast envoy, Israel and Hamas would halt the fighting in Gaza for at least 60 days, during which some hostages would be freed in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel. And there would be further U.S.-backed negotiations on a permanent end to the war.

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A Hamas official outside of Gaza had said earlier on Saturday that the
group was seeking amendments to the Witkoff proposal around the guarantees for ending the war decisively.