White House envoy Steve Witkoff said in a statement on Saturday that Hamas' response to his ceasefire and hostage deal proposal is "totally unacceptable and only takes us backward." Why it matters: Hamas didn't accept Witkoff's proposal as a basis for negotiations and demanded numerous changes that brought the negotiations once again to a deadlock.

Hamas says it has submitted its response to a US ceasefire proposal presented earlier this week.

A senior Hamas official tells The Associated Press that "there some notes and amendments to some points, especially on the U.S. guarantees, the timing of hostage release, the delivery of aid and the ...