A stream of senior US officials is on its way to Israel in a bid to prevent the collapse of the next phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza plan. Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive Sunday, attempting to mediate over the issue of deceased hostages. Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to arrive Tuesday for his first visit to Israel in office.
A stream of senior US officials is on its way to Israel in a bid to prevent the collapse of the next phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza plan. American envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive Sunday, attempting to mediate over the issue of the deceased hostages. US Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to arrive Tuesday for his first visit to Israel in office. Hamas claims it needs engineering equipment to locate the deceased hostages, but Israeli officials say the terrorist organization has access to at least eight more hostages and is stalling in part to enable Turkish experts to enter the Gaza Strip.
Witkoff's arrival comes on the heels of a "60 Minutes" interview with him and Jared Kushner, in which they expressed shock over the recent attack in Doha and said they felt betrayed. Witkoff also said that Trump had felt compelled to rein in actions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that could have had irreversible consequences. Israel has not issued an official response but senior security officials quoted by Israel Hayom said the US was informed in advance of the attack and was not caught off guard.
Vice President Vance's visit is expected to focus on the implementation details of Phase B, including defining the multinational force set to enter the Gaza Strip, transferring governance from Hamas, and the group's disarmament. Hamas leaders, however, continue to reject the demand to disarm and insist on being part of Gaza's future government. (Ed note: Will Witkoff, Kushner and Vance do to Israel the same thing that Biden, Blinken, Jake Sullivan and Austin did? And that was to put all pressure on Israel to give in, but not Hamas? Is making Israel give more, Gods peace plan?) (Read More)
