The US president is making a slew of deals, decisions and alliances central to the daily well-being and geostrategic future of a marginalized Israel. Gaza could be next. Nobody had doubted US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s immense personal commitment to securing the release of all the hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
But he has proved it multiple times in the past few days. He oversaw the indirect contacts with Hamas that secured the release of the last living hostage with American citizenship, 21-year-old IDF soldier Edan Alexander. He flew to Israel to greet Alexander on his release on Monday, went to visit him and his family in the hospital on Tuesday, and put him on the phone with US President Donald Trump in Riyadh and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Extraordinarily, he (Witkoff) gave Alexander the Star of David necklace that his own son Andrew used to wear before his tragic death in 2011 and that he has reportedly worn himself ever since, and told the freed hostage that he “would be doing a great honor to my son if you keep wearing this.” He and Trump’s hostages envoy Adam Boehler then spent over an hour and a half meeting with families of the remaining 58 hostages still held by Hamas, reiterating the Trump administration’s commitment to getting them all freed. Relative after relative emerged from the meeting with a little of their 586 days of agony eased. “It was a calming meeting,” Meirav Gilboa-Dalal, whose son Guy is among the living hostages, said on Wednesday morning. “We met a man who understands our pain.” (Read More)
