US envoys in Israel to hold talks on Gaza future

AFP | Jerusalem

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US President Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel yesterday, where they were set to hold talks on Gaza’s future, an American official told reporters.

Kushner and Witkoff were due to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said, and were working to “determine what are the right next steps, so that we can keep the ceasefire and turn it into a long and enduring peace in Gaza”.

Israeli media reports said that US CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper was also visiting Israel yesterday.

“Yes, I can confirm a meeting is taking place today,” Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for Netanyahu’s office told AFP when asked whether Witkoff and Kusher would meet the Israeli leader in Jerusalem.

Israeli media reported that the talks would also focus on the return of the remains of the last Israeli hostage still held in Gaza.

Of the 251 people seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, only the body of Ran Gvili remains in the Palestinian territory.

“We ask that the Prime Minister of Israel make clear to the respected American envoys that anyone who truly seeks to advance the rehabilitation of Gaza and peace in the Middle East must first and foremost bring Rani home,” the family of Gvili said in a statement yesterday.

This week, US officials presented their vision for a “New Gaza”.