Adam Boehler, who previously held the historic role of overseeing the first direct US-Hamas talks, has withdrawn his nomination as Trump’s “Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs,” according to various US media outlets, including Axios, which reported the news on Friday, citing White House officials.

This decision followed a significant development in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Hamas announced on Friday that it had received a proposal from mediators to resume talks aimed at restarting the ceasefire in Gaza, and Hamas had agreed to the terms outlined in the proposal.

As part of the agreement reached on Friday, Hamas consented to a proposal to release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and return the bodies of four other Israeli captives. In exchange for the release, Hamas has demanded the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 individuals currently serving life sentences. A major sticking point in the negotiations has been the number of prisoners Israel would be able to veto. Israel insisted that it should be allowed to reject 50 of the 250 prisoners proposed for release.

US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, responded on Friday, stating that earlier in the week, he had presented what he called a “bridge proposal.” This proposal suggested extending the ceasefire until mid-April, which Witkoff believed would provide sufficient time to negotiate a more permanent truce. However, Witkoff expressed concern that while Hamas had publicly claimed to be open to flexibility, their private demands were “entirely impractical.”

In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the Israeli delegation to the ceasefire talks in Doha would return to Israel on Saturday evening. A security cabinet meeting is scheduled to discuss the latest developments, particularly in relation to the stages of the hostage deal and the ongoing ceasefire negotiations.