{"id":643,"date":"2025-07-31T14:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2025-07-31T14:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:20:10","slug":"trump-envoy-steve-witkoff-meets-benjamin-netanyahu-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=643","title":{"rendered":"Trump envoy Steve Witkoff meets Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=6e713009-115c-4ad2-b5f4-2a153f39c908\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday for talks over the future of the war in Gaza as international pressure grows to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in the strip.<\/p>\n<p>A US official said the special envoy, who is making his first trip to Israel since May and is a close confidant of President Donald Trump, would be discussing \u201cnext steps in addressing the situation in Gaza\u201d with Israeli officials.<\/p>\n<p>The visit comes after ceasefire talks with militant group Hamas broke down last week and Israel faced a wave of international criticism over spreading starvation in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>A slew of countries, including the UK, France and Canada, have in recent days announced their intentions to recognise a Palestinian state by September in a strategy aimed at putting pressure on Israel to end the war.<\/p>\n<p>Israel denounced recognition of Palestine as a \u201creward [for] Hamas\u2019s monstrous terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It has repeatedly rejected all calls to end its military offensive in Gaza until the militant group capitulates and releases the remaining 50 hostages seized during its October 7 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war.<\/p>\n<p>People familiar with the negotiations said a deal to halt the war for 60 days and secure the release of roughly half the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, appeared to be close before stalling last week.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams from Doha, with Witkoff blaming Hamas for \u201cnot acting in good faith\u201d as the group increased its demands for a truce.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3bd19799-0d9b-4a29-9c94-8be6fcf25b2a?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3bd19799-0d9b-4a29-9c94-8be6fcf25b2a?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3bd19799-0d9b-4a29-9c94-8be6fcf25b2a?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"2290\" height=\"1526\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aeab168c3-622b-4112-8230-5721b4e82346?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aeab168c3-622b-4112-8230-5721b4e82346?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aeab168c3-622b-4112-8230-5721b4e82346?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1526\" height=\"1526\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F3bd19799-0d9b-4a29-9c94-8be6fcf25b2a.jpg?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1\" alt=\"Displaced Palestinians gather to receive aid from a GHF aid distribution point\" data-image-type=\"image\" width=\"2290\" height=\"1526\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"n-content-picture__caption o3-editorial-typography-caption\"><span>Palestinians gather at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution point<\/span><span> <!-- -->\u00a9 Eyad Baba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hamas has consistently demanded guarantees that any temporary ceasefire leads to a permanent end to the war, which Netanyahu has refused to concede before the group is fully defeated.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, who this week\u2009said \u201creal starvation\u201d was afflicting Gaza and that he was working on \u201cvarious plans\u201d for the enclave, wrote on Thursday that \u201cthe fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Germany\u2019s foreign minister Johann Wadephul, who was also due to visit Israel on Thursday, warned that Israel was growing isolated on the global stage and \u201cincreasingly finding itself in a minority position\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>While Germany has not followed France and the UK in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state, Berlin has sharpened its tone against Netanyahu\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p>Wadephul said a peace process towards a two-state solution \u201cmust begin now\u201d or Germany would \u201calso be forced to respond to unilateral steps\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>While in the region, Witkoff was also reportedly due to travel to Gaza and visit an aid distribution hub run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed private entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Israeli media.<\/p>\n<p>According to a person familiar with Israeli government thinking, Witkoff\u2019s arrival was \u201ca good start\u201d in terms of the prospects for renewing ceasefire talks. \u201cThe delegations left Doha because Hamas was playing power games, not because the gaps were too wide to bridge,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n<p>But the Netanyahu security cabinet this week also began discussions about alternative options if talks fully break down, including conquering the remaining 25 per cent of Gaza not under Israeli military control and potentially starting to annex swaths of the territory.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli defence minister Israel Katz on Wednesday threatened that \u201cif Hamas does not announce the release of the hostages soon, it will pay a very heavy price\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>International outrage at conditions inside Gaza, where a UN-backed food security body this week said famine was \u201cunfolding\u201d, forced Netanyahu to reverse policy last weekend and relax restrictions on aid going into the blockaded territory.<\/p>\n<p>Yet international humanitarian groups and local reports say chaos and insecurity is still widespread inside the territory, with much of the aid seized by desperate crowds and armed gangs.<\/p>\n<p>Gaza\u2019s health ministry said in a statement on Thursday that 111 people had been killed in the enclave in the previous 24 hours, 91 of whom while trying to get aid.<\/p>\n<p>This included dozens of people reportedly shot dead by Israeli forces as they congregated near aid trucks in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to local health officials.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military said that troops in the vicinity of the incident had \u201cfired warning shots in the area, not directed at the gathering, in response to the threat posed to them\u201d and was not aware of any casualties. The military said an investigation was ongoing.<\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner in Washington and Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper in Beirut<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Trump #envoy #Steve #Witkoff #meets #Benjamin #Netanyahu #Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday for talks over the future of the war in Gaza as international pressure grows to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[646,642,293,645,538,643,82,644],"class_list":{"0":"post-643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-benjamin","9":"tag-envoy","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-meets","12":"tag-netanyahu","13":"tag-steve","14":"tag-trump","15":"tag-witkoff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}