US rejects Israel's Gaza invasion plan

US President Donald Trump's Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff , stated that Israel has rejected the "Smotrich Plan" -like map, which envisions Israel continuing its occupation of a large part of the Gaza Strip. It has been alleged that the US administration opposes Israel's proposed occupation plan during the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

According to information reported by Axios , a Qatari official was present at a meeting between Steve Witkoff and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at the White House . The meeting focused on a map presented by Dermer, which outlined the borders Israel would withdraw to within the Gaza Strip during the 60-day ceasefire . Both Witkoff and the Qatari official responded to Dermer's map, which envisioned maintaining the occupation of most of Gaza , by saying, "This map is unacceptable."

Steve Witkoff publicly stated that this plan was "not suitable for the Trump administration." It was reported that the meeting took place before Donald Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .

Ron Dermer argued that Netanyahu was under pressure from his far-right coalition partners "not to make major concessions."

On the other hand, Israel's insistence on remaining in the Morag Corridor separating the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis stood out as one of the issues that caused the negotiations to stall.

As ceasefire negotiations continue in Gaza , Donald Trump announced that Israel had accepted the terms of a 60-day ceasefire. Trump also stated that Qatar and Egypt would present Hamas with a final offer .

Hamas announced that it responded positively to the proposals and was ready for negotiations. The Israeli side, on the other hand, declared that it found Hamas's changes to the Qatar proposal unacceptable , and the Israeli delegation went to Doha for negotiations.

Meanwhile, Israeli military attacks continued in the Gaza Strip . Since October 7, 2023, at least 57,575 Palestinians have been killed and 136,879 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza .

Since the ceasefire broke down after March 18, 7,013 people have lost their lives and 24,838 people have been injured in attacks. Furthermore, since May 27, 766 people have been killed and 5,044 injured in systematic attacks on distribution areas established under the name Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation .