White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Israel on Wednesday to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and could potentially enter the enclave, according to a new report.
Axios detailed that this would be Witkoff's first trip to Israel in almost three months. He could also visit centers operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the entity backed by Israel and the U.S. that has been under scrutiny over the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians while seeking to collect aid.
"The president wants to know more about what the humanitarian situation in Gaza is in order to know how to get more assistance to civilians in Gaza," a U.S. official told the outlet when consulted about the trip.
President Donald Trump has broken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the assessment about whether there is widespread starvation in Gaza, saying "those children look very hungry."
He added that the U.S. and Israel will partner to increase aid distribution, but so far officials have not offered additional details about the plan. "We're going to be dealing with Israel, and we think they can do a good job of it," Trump said.
The president, however, rejected recognizing a Palestinian state like France said it will. "If you do that, you really are rewarding Hamas, and I'm not about to do that.."
The trip comes amid a new stalemate in ceasefire talks between Israel and Gaza. Outlet Haaretz reported on Monday that Netanyahu said the country has the backing of the U.S. to begin annexing parts of Gaza if Hamas doesn't agree to a proposal soon.
The move, the outlet added, seeks to keep far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Netanyahu's coalition, which is on shaky ground. The move is set to be presented to cabinet members following the approval of increasing aid flowing into the enclave.
The first areas to be annexed would be those in the buffer zone, followed by some in the northern part close to the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon. It would continue progressively until the whole strip is annexed. It is not clear what would happen to the two million Palestinians living in Gaza.
Trump said last week that the most recent collapse of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas has gotten to a point where the former will have to "finish the job" in Gaza.
"Hamas doesn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die," Trump told press outside the White House last Friday. "We got a lot of hostages out. Now we are down to the final hostages and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. Because of that they really didn't want to make a deal. They're going to have to fight and clean it up, get rid of them," Trump added.
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