President Donald Trump's special envoy and the National Security Council issued a warning to Hamas that time is not on the terrorists' side and said the administration "will respond accordingly" if an extended ceasefire deal is not accepted and American hostage Edan Alexander is not released "immediately."
Hamas on Friday said it had accepted a proposal from mediators to release U.S.-Israeli hostage Alexander and the bodies of four dual-nationals who had died in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office cast doubt on the offer, accusing Hamas of trying to manipulate talks underway in Qatar on the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
On Wednesday evening in Doha, special envoy Steve Witkoff and NSC Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa Eric Trager presented a "bridge" proposal to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire.
Despite Hamas' claim Friday that it had accepted the proposal, no action had been seen. Witkoff and the NSC then released a statement warning the terrorist group.
"President Trump has made it clear that Hamas will either release hostages immediately, or pay a severe price," said the statement, which was sent to Newsmax.
"Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire.
"Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not. Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes."
The bridge proposal is the Trump administration's attempt to buy more time for negotiations and prevent a return to hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, Axios reported.
The previous ceasefire deal expired March 1. Although the fighting has not resumed, Israel has reportedly prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza in a bid to pressure Hamas to agree to release more hostages.
"Under the 'bridge' proposal, Hamas would release living hostages in exchange for prisoners in accordance with previous formulas; the phase-one ceasefire would be extended to enable the resumption of significant humanitarian assistance; and the U.S. would work towards a durable solution to this intractable conflict during the extended ceasefire period," Witkoff and the NSC’s statement said.
"Through our Qatari and Egyptian partners, Hamas was told in no uncertain terms that this 'bridge' would have to be implemented soon — and that dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.