Trump’s Middle East envoy will enter Gaza as part of ‘inspection team’

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has announced that he will visit Gaza in the coming days as part of what he calls a "inspection team" to monitor the ceasefire agreement reached last week between Israel and Hamas. This trip aims to assess the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and ensure stability in the region.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Witkoff stated that he would be visiting two Israeli-controlled areas in Gaza as part of his upcoming trip to Israel. Witkoff emphasized that he will be involved in inspecting the Netzarim Corridor and the Philadelphi Corridor to ensure that those entering the area are safe, unarmed, and without ill intent. These two corridors are located in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, and between southern Gaza and Egypt, respectively.

This visit marks Witkoff's first trip to the Middle East since the ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas on January 15th. Witkoff, a businessman with no diplomatic experience, previously participated in negotiations in Qatar that ultimately led to the ceasefire agreement. It is also the first such visit since Trump took office on Monday. Trump has expressed a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of the agreement since taking office. Despite the agreement taking effect on Sunday, an Israeli sniper shot and killed a child in Rafah just one day later, an incident that was captured on video.

Witkoff stated, "We must ensure that the implementation of the agreement goes smoothly, because if it progresses well, we will enter the second phase, at which time more Israelis held in Gaza will be released." He emphasized that this is the president's instruction to all relevant personnel in the US government. The ceasefire agreement is divided into three phases, with only the first phase currently being implemented. This phase aims to achieve a ceasefire, partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza (including the Netzarim Corridor), and the provision of more aid to the Gaza Strip within the next six weeks.

The fifteen-month war in Gaza has left the region devastated, with the vast majority of the population displaced. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of an impending famine in northern Gaza, and its experts have even compared Israel's war tactics to genocide. Since October 7, 2023, at least 47,107 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Hamas's attacks on southern Israel resulted in 1,139 deaths and more than 200 people being taken captive. The first phase of the ceasefire agreement also includes the release of 33 Israelis held in Gaza, as well as the release of approximately 1,000 Palestinians detained by Israel. Currently, three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released.

The second and third phases have been agreed upon in principle, but negotiations on the details are still ongoing. The second phase is expected to involve the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a "complete withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza. This contradicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's previous promise to maintain indefinite control over Gaza's security after the war. The far-right members of Netanyahu's government have also called for a resumption of fighting after the first phase. The details of the third phase are unclear, but reportedly include a multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of hostages.

The current agreement does not include an agreement on who will govern Gaza after the war. The day before his interview with Fox News, Trump told reporters that he had "no confidence" that the ceasefire agreement would hold. Speaking to reporters during a photo opportunity at the White House, Trump said, "This is not our war, it's their war. But I have no confidence. I saw a picture of Gaza, and Gaza looks like a giant demolition site." Trump's predecessor, the Joe Biden administration, had pledged "unwavering" support for Israel but refused to leverage the billions of dollars in US military aid to Israel in exchange for a ceasefire.

Witkoff said on Wednesday that Trump's "peace through strength" approach was the driving force behind the ceasefire, while acknowledging that the incoming administration was not involved in the "math" that constituted the terms of the agreement. Witkoff also stated that he hopes to restart the Israel-Arab normalization efforts led by Trump during his first term to reduce Israel's diplomatic isolation. The so-called Abraham Accords led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan, but the negotiations have been widely criticized for ignoring Palestinian interests. Experts have also said that the future of the Abraham Accords has been called into question amid the regional anger triggered by the Gaza war.

Nevertheless, Witkoff stated that he believes a long-elusive normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia is still possible. He even went further, saying that he believes every country in the region could "join" such an agreement. Witkoff said, "I think that a conditional prerequisite for normalization is a ceasefire. We need to get people to believe again." When asked which other countries he thought might accept the agreement, Witkoff mentioned Qatar and praised its mediation role in the Gaza negotiations. Qatar has repeatedly rejected the prospect of establishing normal relations with Israel.