Donald Trump's Middle East envoy will enter the Gaza Strip to inspect the distribution of humanitarian aid.
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy , Steve Witkoff, will travel to Gaza on Friday to inspect aid distributions and meet with residents of the war-torn, famine-threatened territory.
This will be Witkoff's second publicly announced visit to Gaza. He had previously been there in January, when a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was in effect, before the Israeli offensive resumed on March 18.
According to a White House press release on Thursday, Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will travel to Gaza to inspect current aid distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food to the enclave's residents.
Deployment of humanitarian aid by air in the Gaza Strip Photo: AFP
"They will meet with Gazans to hear firsthand how they describe this terrible situation" and then "present a report to the president (...) in order to approve a final plan for the distribution of aid and food."
The U.S. special envoy to the Middle East met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday as his ally comes under increasing pressure, with several countries vowing to recognize a Palestinian state.
Witkoff participated in indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian organization Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement.
But those talks collapsed last week when Israel and the United States withdrew their delegations from Doha.
With no solution in sight, dozens of deaths from Israeli gunfire and bombing are being counted every day in the besieged territory, Palestinian sources report.
"The fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to CAPITUTE & RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!" President Donald Trump tweeted this morning.
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Social media
Earlier this week, in what appeared to be a distancing from his ally Netanyahu, he expressed concern about a "real famine" hitting Gaza.
On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions against officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accusing them of taking steps to "internationalize the conflict with Israel," the State Department announced.
Pressure on Israel continues to grow Shortly before Witkoff's arrival, mothers and relatives of hostages still held by Hamas demonstrated outside Netanyahu's office to demand a "comprehensive agreement" that would guarantee the release of the 49 hostages still held in Gaza, 27 of whom have been declared dead by the military.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,219 people, mostly civilians, dead on the Israeli side, according to a tally based on official data.
Israel's retaliation has caused at least 60,249 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, considered reliable by the UN.
Pressure on Israel is growing daily, even from traditional allies.
Deployment of humanitarian aid by air in the Gaza Strip Photo: AFP
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also arrived in Tel Aviv, where he met with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar.
Before leaving for Tel Aviv, he said that Israel is increasingly diplomatically isolated in the face of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
On Wednesday, faced with Israel's "persistent inability" to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Canada announced its intention to recognize the State of Palestine, following the example of France and the United Kingdom.
The Israeli government, denouncing a "distorted international pressure campaign," announced on Sunday a limited pause in the fighting to allow aid deliveries to the territory, home to some 2.4 million Palestinians.
The UN considered that the conditions for aid distribution are "far from sufficient."
Withdrawal of a division On Thursday morning, several dozen bodies, hit by bullets and killed the day before around trucks transporting aid according to the victims' relatives, lay piled up in the morgue of Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, an AFP correspondent observed.
The Gaza Civil Defense put the death toll at 58.
The Israeli army confirmed firing "warning shots" as Gazans gathered around aid trucks.
A man after receiving sacks of flour delivered after the arrival of aid trucks. Photo: AFP
According to the Civil Defense, another 38 people were killed overnight in various Israeli operations. The Israeli military said it was investigating, but stressed the difficulty of verifying without precise coordinates of these various incidents.
The army also announced on Thursday the withdrawal of its 98th Division, made up of elite paratrooper and commando units, from northern Gaza, which is "now preparing for new missions."
eltiempo
