Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said he plans to visit Gaza to ensure the conditions of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas are implemented. He will become the first senior US official to visit the Gaza Strip in years.
Witkoff, who joined members of Joe Biden’s administration to negotiate the deal, said in an interview with Fox News that he would join an “inspection team” in the Philadelphia and Netzarim corridors “where there are external supervisors ensuring security.”
The Philadelphia Corridor is a narrow strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border that was a point of contention during ceasefire negotiations. Netzarim is a key demilitarized zone established by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that divides the Gaza Strip.
In the interview, Witkoff added that implementing the agreement could be more difficult than closing the deal itself. Trump, earlier this week, said he was not confident the deal would hold.
“I think implementation is probably more difficult than closure. Reaching the agreement was a big step. We had to do it and we did, thank God. And now we have to implement it”, pointed out Witkoff.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since 2023, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. In addition, the group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza.
In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army carries out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
This content was originally published in Envoy from Trump says he will go to Gaza to ensure implementation of the agreement on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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