White House makes statement on Gaza, Witkoff on Middle East trip

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt assessed the situation regarding the ceasefire in Gaza at a press briefing. Leavitt stated that President Donald Trump and his team are closely interested in the ceasefire process in Gaza and said, “We want to see the ceasefire in Gaza continue.”

Leavitt said they know the deadline for the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza is approaching, and added, "That's why Steve Witkoff , as I mentioned earlier, Trump himself and his team are very interested in this issue. We want to see the ceasefire continue. The president has made it clear that he wants to see all the prisoners in Gaza return home."

WITKOFF MAY GO TO THE REGION

US President Donald Trump's Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, announced that he may visit the region this weekend as part of negotiations to maintain a ceasefire in Gaza.

According to reports in the US national press, Witkoff said in his speech at the American Jewish Committee (AJC) event held in Washington that Israel will send a delegation to Doha or Cairo in the coming days to discuss the next steps of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

"We are making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team. If these talks go well, I could go to the region on Sunday," Witkoff said, stressing that he was ready to return to the region to strengthen diplomacy.

Witkoff described the focus of the new talks as "getting the second phase on track and securing the release of some additional hostages" and said they saw this as "a real possibility".

CLAIM THAT HE POSTPONED HIS VISIT

The Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that "Steve Witkoff is not expected to come to the region today, despite his statements to the US press on February 23."

It was reported that Witkoff was expected to come to the region and Israel to discuss issues such as the continuation of the prisoner exchange agreement, moving to the second phase, and resolving the current crisis regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners, but it was emphasized that a date for these talks has not yet been set.

The report stated, "In addition, even if Witkoff comes to the region, it is not yet clear whether he will visit Israel." On February 23, Witkoff said he would go to the region within the week to work on maintaining the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

LATEST SITUATION IN THE CEASEFIRE IN GAZA

The ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement reached between Hamas and Israel entered into force on Sunday, January 19 at 12:15 GMT. In the first six rounds of the prisoner swap, 1,135 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and 19 Israeli prisoners in Gaza were released, as well as five Thai prisoners in Gaza. The bodies of four Israeli prisoners were returned this week. According to the three-phase ceasefire agreement, a total of over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and 33 Israeli prisoners are expected to be released in the first 42-day phase.

VIOLATION BY ISRAEL

Despite Hamas releasing six Israeli prisoners from the Gaza Strip as part of the seventh round of the swap, Israel announced that it was suspending the release of Palestinian prisoners. In a statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, it was announced that the release of Palestinian prisoners was suspended because "they were used for ceremonies and propaganda purposes that humiliate Israeli prisoners."

The statement had announced that "602 Palestinian prisoners" would not be released until the other Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip were handed over and that the handovers would be carried out without ceremony. In a previous statement from the Hamas-affiliated Prisoners' Media Office, it was announced that Israel would release 620 Palestinian prisoners, 151 of whom were sentenced to life or heavy prison terms.