US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that while difficulties remain in negotiations for the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the second stage of the hostage deal is “absolutely going to begin,” and that the president “wants to see” it happen. He also vowed: “We are not leaving anybody behind.”

Speaking to Fox News, Witkoff said that he held “very productive and constructive” phone calls Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, in which the leaders discussed “the timing of phase two, the positions of the parties so that we can understand where we stand, and we will continue the talks later this week,” in either Cairo or Doha.

He added that phase two “is a little bit more intricate and complicated in terms of how we bring the two sides together on this,” but clarified that talks on phase two will continue in a “location to be determined.”