JERUSALEM/CAIRO, July 31 (Reuters) – US Special Envoy Steve Witkov met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to save talks to save Gaza and address the humanitarian crisis in the global hanger monitor warns that hunger is spreading.
Shortly after Witkoff arrived, President Donald Trump posted on his true social network.
Witkov has arrived in Israel and the Netanyahu government is facing international pressure on widespread destruction of Gaza and restrictions on territorial aid.
Following the meeting, a senior Israeli official said the understanding between Israel and the United States needs to move from a plan to free some of the hostages to a plan to free all hostages, disarm Hamas militants and denounce the Gaza Strip.
Officials did not provide details on what the plan would turn out, but were seen as a shift towards a more comprehensive deal as they called for a limited ceasefire. Officials added that Israel and the United States will work to increase humanitarian aid as they continue fighting in Gaza.
According to the White House, Witkov will be inspecting food aid delivery as he travels to Gaza on Friday to work on a final plan to speed up food aid delivery.
“The envoy and ambassador will inform the President immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution to the community,” White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt told reporters.
Trump on Thursday called the situation in Gaza “awful.” When asked about comments from his allies and Republican US representative Marjorie Taylor Green, he called the Israeli attack on the Palestinian enclave a massacre.
“Yeah, what’s going on there is terrible, yeah, that’s terrible. People are very hungry,” Trump told reporters when asked about Green’s social media comments. Trump also pointed to financial aid from Washington to help deal with Gaza’s hunger crisis.
Cerez-fire meeting
The indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha ended with deadlock last week, with a sideline liability for trading the remaining liability and gaps on issues that include the scope of Israeli forces’ withdrawal.
Israel sent responses on Wednesday to Hamas’ latest amendments to the US proposal to see the 60-day ceasefire and release of several hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source familiar with the details said.
There were no immediate comments from Hamas.
Gaza medical personnel reported that at least 23 people were killed in the Israeli fire, including 12 people gathered among the crowds assisted around the Netzarim corridors, a region held by Israeli forces in central Gaza.
Israeli forces said the troops fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, and did not identify the victim.
Since the Israeli attacks began, the Gaza Health Ministry has recorded 156 deaths from starvation and malnutrition.
Faced with growing international outrage over the image of hungry children, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate a safe route for convoys to deliver food and medicine.
I call on Hamas to disarm
The United Nations Coordination Agency for Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday that the UN and its partners were able to bring more food to Gaza in the first two days of the suspension, but the volume said “it’s not yet sufficient.”
The inhabitants face danger from Israeli forces and Palestinian marauders when they try to reach supplies.
“I tried several times to grab some flour. What I managed to do is someone with a knife freezes me on the street and threatens me by stabing me,” one man from Deir Al-Balah told Reuters, asking not to be identified.
Pressure is underway in Gaza, Hamas to reach a ceasefire contract with Israel. Hamas still holds 50 hostages in Gaza, of which 20 are believed to be alive.
The hostage mother led the protest outside Netanyahu’s office, calling on the government to end Israeli war in Gaza.
Netanyahu, including two far-right parties who wanted to conquer Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements there, said he would not end the war until Hamas no longer controls the enclave and puts his arms down. Hamas refuses to call for disarming.
Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating ceasefire efforts, supported a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, outlined the measures for the two states’ resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The declaration states that Hamas “must end that rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian authorities.” Israel has ruled out that it has gained control of Gaza.
Hamas-led faction said Thursday that Palestinian resistance would not cease until the “occupying” ends.
Israel condemned a declaration by France, the UK and Canada last week, potentially recognizing the Palestinian state. Israel says there is a sum of money to reward Hamas for attacks on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
The attack caused fighters to kill 1,200 people, return 251 hostages to Gaza, triggering Israeli attacks in enclaves, and the worst bloodshed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict decades ago.
The US State Department also announced sanctions against Palestinian authorities and officials of the Palestinian Liberation Agency, saying the group is undermining peace efforts. It was the latest obvious diplomatic shift in favour of Israel against Washington’s Palestinians and supporting divergence with European allies.
A spokesman for the Palestinian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The full impact of the US movement was not immediately clear. The State Department said targeted individuals would be banned from travelling to the United States, but did not identify targeted individuals.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadehul, who set out on a visit to Israel, said negotiations on a solution for the two states must begin, but in Germany, the perception of the Palestinian state would come at the end of the process.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Justice Minister Yalib Levin expressed support for the annexation of the West Bank on Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh of Washington, written by Mayan Rubel and Charlotte Greenfield, edited by Peter Graf, Mark Heinrich, Nia Williams, Daniel Wallis and Michael Perry))
