Trump’s Middle East envoy will enter Gaza as part of ‘inspection team’
Al Jazeera
Steve Witkoff says he seeks to assure the Gaza ceasefire deal will reach its second phase, despite Trump’s doubts.
Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has announced he will visit Gaza in the coming days as part of what he called an “inspection team” to monitor the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas last week.
During an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Witkoff said he would tour two Israeli-held zones in Gaza, as part of an upcoming trip to Israel.
“I’m going to be a part of an inspection team at the Netzarim Corridor and also at the Philadelphia Corridor,” Witkoff said. “That’s where you have outside overseers, sort of making sure that people are safe and people who are entering are not armed, and no one has bad motivations.”
The Netzarim Corridor separates north and south Gaza and has been occupied by Israeli forces since they invaded the Palestinian enclave in late October 2023. The Philadelphi Corridor runs between southern Gaza and Egypt. Israel’s military took “operational control” of the area in May of last year.
The trip will be the envoy’s first visit to the Middle East since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal on January 15. Witkoff, a businessman with no previous diplomatic experience, had previously joined the talks in Qatar that led to the deal.
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