US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that Hamas may have "tricked" him into believing it was interested in reaching a deal. In an interview on Sunday on Fox News, Witkoff said that Hamas may have "tricked" him earlier this month, initially believing the movement had agreed to his proposal regarding the bridge to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, before backing down.

Speaking to the channel, which is close to the Trump administration, about his visit to Doha on March 12, where he presented his proposal for the bridge, Witkoff said, "I thought we had an acceptable agreement. I even thought we had an agreement with Hamas. Maybe I was just fooled. I thought we had arrived, and clearly we hadn't."

The proposal was supposed to extend the ceasefire until April 19, and for Hamas to release five live hostages in exchange for a larger number of Palestinian security prisoners. Israel says it accepted Witkoff's proposal, but said it expected the release of 11 live hostages.

Hamas insisted on adhering to the original terms of the deal, the second phase of which was supposed to begin in early March. Israel refused to enter into talks on the specific terms of the second phase, as expected on February 3. The general framework for the phase requires a full withdrawal from Gaza and agreement to a permanent end to the war.

By submitting his preliminary proposal earlier this month, Witkoff endorsed Israel's refusal to move to the second phase.

On March 14, Hamas offered to release the last living American-Israeli hostage, Aidan Alexander, and the bodies of four other American-Israeli citizens, but Witkoff described this response as unworkable. Four days later, Netanyahu resumed the war on the besieged Gaza Strip, ending the two-month ceasefire.

"This is Hamas's responsibility. The United States stands fully with the State of Israel," Witkoff told Fox News. "We expressed our view that Hamas had every opportunity to disarm and accept the bridge proposal, which would have given us a 40- or 50-day ceasefire where we could have discussed disarmament and reached a final truce. There were all sorts of opportunities to do that, but they chose not to do it." He added, "This (war) becomes the alternative, and that is unfortunate." Witkoff made clear that the United States would remain "cooperative" if Hamas reached out again. "I certainly hope we get everyone back to the table and get the hostages home," he said.

Witkoff told Tucker Carlson on Friday that the two sides were already "talking" after Israel resumed its bombing of Gaza.

When the Fox host asked about Iran, Witkoff repeated what he said on Carlson's podcast on Friday about US President Donald Trump's letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei.

"Our signal to Hamas and Iran is: Let's sit down and see if we can get to the right place through diplomacy. If we can, we're prepared to do that. If we can't, the alternative is not a great option," Witkoff said, adding that Iran cannot be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

In a separate interview also broadcast on Sunday, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz made clear that Washington wants to completely dismantle Iran's nuclear program.

"I think getting Palestinians out of Gaza is a very practical idea," Waltz told Fox News. "Who wouldn't want to move their family to another place that would provide decent housing and a place to live? Trump is asking a very practical question: How can two million people live for a decade with all this (destruction) in Gaza?"

"Trump looks at the massive destruction in Gaza and knows it will take years to fix," Waltz added. "Even before his inauguration, President Trump said the continued detention of these Americans would cost a lot. Our enemies respect and fear the commander in chief sitting in the Oval Office."

Waltz emphasized that: "It is insane to spend billions of dollars rebuilding Gaza only to see terrorist attacks everywhere again."