President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will return this week to the Middle East, where he will seek an "extension" of Phase One of the ceasefire deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy on Sunday said the U.S. expects the second phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal to go forward. Steve Witkoff made the comment in a CNN interview when asked about Israel's decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Earlier this month, the president said he favored taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave. But Egypt and Jordan flatly rejected cooperating.

For now, the cease-fire deal between Hamas and the Israeli government appears to be holding, but Donald Trump’s proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza has been the main focus of discussion for the past few weeks.

But Arab states have yet to tackle critical issues like who will foot the bill for Gaza's reconstruction or how the Strip will be governed.