White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to the Middle East on Sunday night to follow up on the implementation of the deal to end the war in Gaza, a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the trip told Axios.
Why it matters: The implementation of the first phase of the deal was mostly successful with 20 live Israeli hostages released, close to 2000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released, an initial Israeli withdrawal from large parts of Gaza and a ceasefire.
- At the same time the deal is still extremely fragile and tensions have been growing over Israeli claims that Hamas has been slow-walking the return of the bodies of hostages.
- The situation on the ground is still highly volatile with Hamas conducting deadly retaliations against its rivals as it tries to restore its hold over parts of Gaza.
- And while initial work has started on implementing the second phase of the deal, there are still many unknowns about the key questions of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza.
Driving the news: President Trump spoke on Thursday with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed the situation in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
- A senior Israeli official told Axios Trump called Netanyahu in the middle of a meeting the Israeli prime minister had with his top security advisers about Hamas refusal to return more bodies of hostages.
- The group returned to Israel only nine out of 28 bodies of dead hostages and claimed it needs to conduct search efforts to locate the other bodies.
- The official said Netanyahu told Trump that Hamas is lying and asked that the U.S. and the other mediators press the group to return more bodies.
- Trump told Netanyahu he is aware of the problem and is working on it, the Israeli official said. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
- “We think Hamas is holding between seven to ten bodies that it can return at any minute. They choose not to do it and are creating a crisis”, the official noted.
- While Trump’s advisers told Netanyahu and the families of the deceased hostages that the U.S. is committed to returning all of the bodies, the White House also stressed to Israel that this effort shouldn’t delay the implementation of the next steps in the deal.
The other side: Hamas said in a statement on Friday that it calls in the mediators “to complete their role by following up on the implementation of the remaining provisions of the agreement,” especially when it comes to humanitarian aid, the opening of the Rafah crossing and the reconstruction.
- Hamas also called for forming a “community support committee” made of independent figures that will act as a government in Gaza and for the Israeli military to complete its withdrawal from Gaza.
What to watch: Witkoff is expected to visit Egypt and Israel during his upcoming trip and will likely be on the ground in Gaza too, according to a source with knowledge.
- Other than trying to push Hamas to return more bodies Witkoff is expected to also continue working on the creation of the international stabilization force (ISF) that according to the Trump plan is expected to deploy in parts of Gaza and allow the IDF to further withdraw.
- They U.S. also wants to begin the rebuilding process in parts of Gaza that are outside Hamas control, particularly the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt. The Trump administration hopes Rafah can become an example for a post-Hamas Gaza.
Go deeper: All 20 surviving hostages freed by Hamas under Gaza peace deal
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