The envoy told the hostage family that we had “very very good plan” to end the war in Gaza
The Middle East envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump told his family that the Palestinian militant group Hamas will work with the Israeli government on Saturday to develop a plan to effectively end the war in Gaza.
Despite the staggering negotiations, Trump has made ending the conflict a top priority for his administration. Steve Witkoff is visiting Israel as its government faces increasing pressure amid worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
In the recording of the meeting reviewed by Reuters, Witkov was heard saying: “We have a very, very good plan, we are working collectively with the Israeli government, Prime Minister Netanyahu… for the reconstruction of Gaza. This actually means the end of the war.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks.
Vykov also said Hamas was ready to disarm to end the war, although the group repeatedly stated that it would not put down its weapons.
Warning: Video contains painful images | U.S. envoy visited Gaza on the Middle East special Steve Witkoff on Friday to inspect controversial aid allocation locations supported by the United States and Israel after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
In response to the reported remarks, Hamas has dominated Gaza since 2007 but was beaten by military forces in the war, saying that unless an “armed resistance” was established, it would not abandon “an independent, independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with its capital.”
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel are intended to ensure a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and end the deal with half of the hostages that were deadlocked last week.
Hamas released the second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David on Saturday. In it, David’s bones were thin and he dug a hole, which he said in the video was for his grave.
Witkoff met with Netanyahu on Thursday.
After that, a senior Israeli official said that understanding between Israel and Washington is on the rise and it is necessary to shift from a plan to release some hostages to a plan to release all hostages to disarm Hamas and to revoke the Gaza Strip to respond to Israel’s critical needs to end the war.
Hunger in Gaza
Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating ceasefire efforts, endorsed the declaration of France and Saudi Arabia, outlining steps to a two-state solution against the Israel-Palestine conflict. As part of this, they say Hamas must hand over its arms to Western-backed Palestinian authorities.
Witkoff arrives in Israel, and Netanyahu’s government faces global outcry over the Gaza disaster and hunger growing in its 2.2 million population.
The crisis also prompted a series of Western powers to announce that they may recognize the Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada intends to recognize the Palestine state at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in September. This recognition will depend on the reforms and elections carried out by the Palestinian Authority in 2026.
Witkoff visited the U.S.-backed aid operations in southern Gaza on Friday, with the United Nations partially blaming the deadly conditions of the enclave, saying he was trying to get food and other aid from people there.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel cut off all supplies in recent weeks and died of malnutrition in the past three months from March to May. It said on Saturday that it has recorded seven deaths since Friday, including one child.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza and says it is taking steps to reach its population with more aid, including suspending part of the day in certain areas, airdrops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
The United Nations agency said that food flows are insufficient and Israel must allow more aid to land and quickly mitigate access to it.
According to Israelis, the war in Gaza began with a Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages in the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Gaza health officials said the Israeli attack killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages are now left in Gaza, with only 20 of them being considered alive.
