U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met for nearly three hours with relatives of Israeli hostages in Tel-Aviv on Saturday, assuring them that Washington and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are drafting a plan that he said could "effectively end the war" in Gaza. The visit comes after indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations on a 60-day cease-fire and the release of roughly half the captives collapsed last week. The meeting coincided with the release of graphic propaganda videos by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad showing captives Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski severely emaciated, including footage of David digging what he described as his own grave inside a tunnel. The images triggered nationwide protests that drew tens of thousands to Tel-Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square and renewed pressure on Israel’s cabinet to secure an agreement. Netanyahu told the families he was “deeply shocked” by the footage and promised to pursue the return of all hostages “constantly and relentlessly.” International leaders echoed the outrage: French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the videos as “abject cruelty,” while EU foreign-affairs chief Kaja Kallas called them “appalling” and urged an immediate, unconditional release of the captives. Israel says 251 people were abducted on 7 October 2023; about 50 remain in Gaza, with only around 20 believed alive. The war that followed the Hamas attack has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and left much of the enclave on the brink of famine. Witkoff’s remarks offered rare public hints of a U.S.-backed framework that, if agreed, would pair a complete hostage release with reconstruction of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas, but neither side has publicly embraced the outline.