Trump’s Envoy and Ambassador Huckabee To Inspect Gaza Aid Efforts as Hopes Dim for Cease-Fire Deal With Hamas

With Israel and America growing increasingly doubtful that negotiations with Hamas will yield a cease-fire and release of the 50 remaining hostages, including 20 believed to be alive, President Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, will travel to Gaza on Friday to inspect the humanitarian efforts and recommend ways to boost them. Mr. Witkoff and the American ambassador to Jeruslaem, Mike Huckabee, will visit Gaza aid distribution centers and help “secure a plan to deliver more food, and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground,” the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Thursday. They will brief Mr. Trump “immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region,” she added. The decision to travel to Gaza was taken after a four-hour meeting at Jerusalem between the envoy and Prime Minister Netnayahu, which included a long one-on-one conversation followed by talks among a small number of aides on both sides. “Our options are narrowing” in Gaza, an unidentified Jerusalem official told Israeli reporters. “In the next few days we will have to make decisive decisions, as chances to get to a deal with Hamas are slim. We’re reaching a point when we need to achieve the war’s goals of releasing the hostages and defeating Hamas. If not through negotiations, then in another way.”The Israeli official said that Jerusalem and Washington are fully coordinated on these measures. In a posting on Truth Social earlier Thursday, Mr. Trump seemed to agree. “The fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages,” he wrote. The Israeli Defense Force announced on Thursday the departure from northern Gaza of an entire combat division. The move was interpreted by Israeli commentators as either a signal that the army is planning to ease the military pressure on Hamas, or as a temporary retreat on the eve of a major new assault on Hamas’s remaining strongholds. Regardless, no major military operation is expected before Mr. Witkoff leaves the region on Saturday, according to Israeli sources.On Friday, Messrs. Witkoff and Huckabee will likely visit the distribution centers in the south of the Strip, which are run by the Israeli- and American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. At the same time, Israel in recent days has facilitated the passage of a large number of aid trucks into areas where the United Nations is charged with disseminating humanitarian goods. “In recent days, our teams have managed to collect wheat flour, ready-to-eat rations, high-energy biscuits, nutrition items, hygiene kits, and other critical supplies from the Israeli-controlled crossings,” a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters Thursday. UN officials have harshly criticized the GHF, saying it fails to operate according to accepted international norms. The operation, for one, is secured by one side to the war: Israel. Officials often cite violent clashes in the vicinity of the GHF centers, where they claim food seekers are killed, and that Israel is using live ammunition there to disperse crowds. At the same time, the UN’s aid distribution operation is also plagued by mayhem and looting, as well as by deaths. “Under the current conditions, much of the food is taken by people on the way, rather than reaching community-based distribution points where those at highest risk of death due to malnutrition can be prioritized,” Mr. Haq said Thursday. According to a Hebrew University study, the price of flour at Gaza markets has soared in recent days, rising by more than 1,000 percent compared to pre-war rates. As no wheat grows in the Strip, all flour there is being donated at no cost. Rising prices, which are one of the main reasons for the spread of malnutrition, are clear evidence that Hamas and other looters are benefiting from the Gaza aid. Mr. Witkoff’s Gaza visit on Friday will take place as a critical mass of European and other Western countries are announcing they plan to recognize a Palestinian state, citing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as pretext. Unlike them, America is arguing that recognition of nonexistent Palestine amounts to added pressure on Israel and that Hamas then has no incentive to reach a cease-fire deal. Recognition of Palestine is “irrelevant,” Secretary Rubio told Fox News on Thursday. “None of these countries have the ability to create a Palestinian state. There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it. And by the way, they are hurting cease-fire talks,” he said. “If Hamas refuses to agree to a cease-fire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September. So they’re not going to agree to a cease-fire. I mean, it’s so clumsy.”

Trump’s Envoy and Ambassador Huckabee To Inspect Gaza Aid Efforts as Hopes Dim for Cease-Fire Deal With Hamas

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