According to a transition official with intimate knowledge of the ceasefire process, Steve Witkoff, president-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, is thinking of visiting the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of his attempts to keep a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on track.
Witkoff also intends to maintain a near-constant presence in the region over the upcoming weeks and months to troubleshoot flare-ups on the ground that he believes could unravel the ceasefire deal and halt the release of hostages held by Hamas at any moment, the official said, underscoring just how fragile the president-elect’s team believes the ceasefire deal that is set to go into effect on Sunday is.
According to the official, you need to be on top of things and prepared to put an end to any issues that may arise.
Witkoff is simultaneously striving for long-term stability for the Israelis and the two million Palestinians who have been displaced, a goal that will be attained through the three stages of the agreement that was negotiated this past week.
The release of Israeli-held Palestinians and Hamas-held prisoners is part of the first phase, which starts on Sunday and is expected to last roughly six weeks. The release of more captives and the evacuation of Israeli forces from Gaza are the anticipated outcomes of the second phase, which would be negotiated during the first. Ending the conflict and starting to reconstruct Gaza are the objectives of the last phase, which is also still up for negotiation.
About 250 people were taken captive and 1,200 people were killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Many Israelis who thought they had military dominance in the area were devastated by the strike, which stunned the country.
Numerous fronts have since been added to the fight, with Israel attempting to eliminate Iranian and Iran-backed adversaries in neighboring nations.
Even with the ceasefire deal, Trump’s envoy is currently quite concerned about a rogue incident that was caused by the inevitable daily encounters between Israelis and Palestinians in and around Gaza.
Recall that there are many radicals and fanatics from the Israeli right wing as well as from the Hamas side who are highly motivated to blow this whole situation out of proportion, the transition official stated.
Instead of accepting Israel’s or the Palestinians’ word for it, Witkoff would be able to witness for himself what the dynamics are in Gaza if he were there, the official added. “You got to see it, you got to feel it.”
Trump and his team are battling for longer-term answers while overseeing the current phase of the agreement and negotiating the next.
According to the transition official, there will be a rebellion if we do not assist the Gazans, improve their quality of life, and offer them hope.
There are still unanswered questions about how to rebuild Gaza and where to temporarily transfer the two million Palestinians. According to the transition official, Indonesia is one of the places being considered as potential destinations for some of them.
There is uncertainty even regarding Gazans’ willingness to relocate. Relocating is a highly contentious topic among Arabs and Palestinians. Relocating, according to many, would be the first step toward Israel evicting them from their land.
However, the problem of sending aid into Gaza, which is necessary for the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, is still there at the moment. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is severe, and Israel continues to worry that Hamas would steal some of the aid that is permitted to enter the territory.Conditions are getting worse, and there is a great deal of hunger and illness.
According to Palestinian health officials, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 individuals in the past year and a half, the majority of them were women and children. In addition to forcing residents from their homes and into filthy tent camps, the bombings have severely damaged the enclave’s healthcare infrastructure.
The transition official said, “Get the hostages home, and if you don’t, come back and explain why.” Witkoff, a real estate developer who has known Trump for decades, entered into negotiations for a deal, joining President Joe Biden’s team that has been working toward it for more than a year.
There was less time than ever before to reach an agreement. In addition to setting a deadline of January 20, when he is scheduled to take office, which had not been done in earlier rounds of negotiations, the transition official stated that a number of other hostages had perished in the weeks prior as the region’s temperatures dropped and conditions worsened.
The process was further clouded by Trump’s close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his threat that if a deal was not reached, he would not stop Israel from striking Gaza.
The United States has provided Israel with at least $17.9 billion in military aid in the past year, and the country is a close friend.
Witkoff put pressure on the Israelis by leveraging Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu and his history with Israel. On one occasion, he had a direct conversation with the prime minister while he was there on the Sabbath. In private, Witkoff has informed others that his remarks to Netanyahu on Saturday, January 11, were not threatening and that one of Netanyahu’s closest aides, Ron Dermer, had invited him to the prime minister’s home.
According to the transition official, Witkoff was looking for a reality check on Netanyahu’s willingness to do and openly discussed with him the necessary steps to reach an agreement, such as Israel sending a high-level representative to the Doha negotiations who could make decisions in real time. In essence, he told the prime minister, “Tell me if you’re not interested in making a deal, and I’ll board the plane and head home.”
He also didn’t hold back when mentioning all that Trump had done for Israel in conversations with Israeli officials. During his first term, Trump reduced U.S. aid to the Palestinians, recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and relocated the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In his conversations with Israeli officials, he occasionally cited Trump’s readiness to accept political criticism in order to reach an agreement and urged the Israelis to follow suit.
Through the Qataris, the message was conveyed to Hamas: Tell me why you don’t see this as the agreement that may finally bring the war to a conclusion, unless you’re willing to die.
Additionally, Witkoff cultivated strong relationships with hostage families. When their loved ones are set to be released in the second phase of the agreement, they voiced concerns that they will be left behind. They were particularly worried about whether there would be enough Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel to exchange: The framework agreement reached in May of last year included the numbers, and without Phase 1, there can be no Phase 2, which is still up for negotiation.
During the following six weeks, Phase 1 might collapse at any moment. According to two individuals familiar with the situation, the first American hostage, Keith Siegel, is not expected to be freed until Day 14 of the ceasefire. If the ceasefire does not continue into the second phase, five more American families will not be able to bring their children home, living or dead.