US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday in a bid to salvage Gaza truce talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine is unfolding.
Shortly after Mr Witkoff’s arrival, US president Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social network: “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!”
Mr Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will travel to Gaza on Friday to inspect food aid delivery as the US works on a final plan to speed deliveries to the enclave, the White House said on Thursday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the two officials will travel into Gaza to inspect the current food distribution sites and work on a plan to deliver more food there and meet with local Gazans to “hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground”.
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Meanwhile, in Washington’s latest apparent diplomatic shift backing Israel against the Palestinians and diverging from its European allies, the US state department announced sanctions on officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), saying the groups were undermining peace efforts.
The PA and PLO, rivals of the Hamas fighters that control Gaza, are internationally accepted as the representatives of the Palestinian people and administrators of a Palestinian state that France, Britain and Canada have said in recent days they could soon recognise as independent.
A spokesperson for the PA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The full impact of the US move was not immediately clear: the US state department said targeted individuals would be barred from travelling to the United States but did not identify those targeted.
On Thursday two senior Israeli cabinet ministers, defence minister Israel Katz and justice minister Yariv Levin, voiced support for annexing the West Bank, Israeli-occupied territory where the Palestinians hope to build their state.
“At this very moment, there is a moment of opportunity that must not be missed,” they wrote. Palestinians say annexation would foreclose the prospect of a two-state solution and terminate any peace process.
Recent indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha ended in deadlock, with the sides trading blame for the impasse and gaps lingering over issues including the extent of an Israeli military withdrawal.
Mr Witkoff arrived at a time when Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the widespread destruction of Gaza and constraints on aid in the territory.
Israel on Wednesday sent a response to Hamas’ latest amendments to a US proposal that would see a 60-day ceasefire and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source familiar with the details said.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
Gaza medical officials said at least 23 people were reported killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, including 12 people among crowds who had gathered to receive aid around the Netzarim corridor, an area held by Israeli troops in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots to disperse crowds, and had not identified any casualties.
Since the war began, the Gaza health ministry has recorded 156 deaths from starvation and malnutrition, most of them in recent weeks, including at least 90 children. The UN says Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to reach aid since late May.
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, said Mr Witkoff would also visit an aid distribution site in Gaza.
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Confronted by rising international outrage over images of starving children, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday the United Nations and its partners had been able to bring more food into Gaza in the first two days of pauses, but the volume was “still far from enough”.
Residents face peril from Israeli forces and Palestinian looters when trying to reach supplies.
“I have tried several times to grab a sack of flour. The only time I managed to do so, someone with a knife froze me in the street and took it away, threatening to stab me,” one man from Deir Al-Balah told Reuters, asking not to be identified.
With the number of Palestinians killed in almost two years of war passing 60,000 this week, pressure has been mounting in Gaza on Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel.
Hamas is still holding 50 hostages in Gaza, of whom about 20 are believed to be alive. Mothers of hostages led a protest outside Mr Netanyahu’s office, calling on the government to end the war.
Mr Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition includes two far-right parties who want to conquer Gaza and re-establish Jewish settlements there, has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer rules the enclave and lays down its arms. Hamas has rejected calls to disarm.
Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating the ceasefire efforts, backed a declaration on Tuesday by France and Saudi Arabia which outlined steps for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The declaration says Hamas “must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority”. Israel has ruled out the PA gaining control of Gaza.
Israel has denounced declarations by France, Britain and Canada since last week that they may recognise a Palestinian state, which Israel says amounts to rewarding Hamas for its October 7th, 2023, assault on Israeli territory.
That attack, when fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, precipitated the war. – Reuters
