Washington, D.C.– US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkopf has announced that he will visit Gaza in the coming days as part of what he calls an “inspection team” to monitor the agreement between Israel and Hamas last week ceasefire agreement.

Witkov said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he would visit two Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza as part of an upcoming trip to Israel.

“I will be part of the inspection team for the Necharim Corridor and the Philadelphia Corridor,” Witkoff said. “That’s where you have outside monitors, making sure people are safe, that people coming in are not armed and that no one has bad motives.”

The Nezarim corridor separates northern and southern Gaza and has been occupied by Israeli forces since they invaded the Palestinian enclave in late October 2023. The Philadelphia Corridor runs between southern Gaza and Egypt. The Israeli military took control of the area last May.

The visit will be the envoy’s first to the Middle East since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on January 15. No diplomatic experienceHe had previously participated in negotiations in Qatar that led to the deal.

It will also be Witkoff’s first trip abroad since Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Since taking office, Trump has said he lacks confidence that the deal will work. The agreement came into effect on Sunday, a day after an Israeli sniper kill a child An incident in Rafah was captured on video.

“We have to make sure that it goes well because if it goes well, we will move to the second phase and we will take out more live bodies,” Witkov said, referring to Israeli prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Gaza.

“I think that’s the directive from the president to me and others in the U.S. government who are working on this.”

three-phase agreement

The ceasefire agreement has been Three phases. Only the first phase of implementation has begun.

This phase means the fighting will be on hold for the next six weeks. A partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, including from the Nezarim Corridor; and a surge in aid to the enclave.

Fifteen months of war in Gaza has leveled the enclave and displaced the vast majority of its population. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of impending famine in northern Gaza, and experts have Comparing Israel’s War Strategies to genocide.

All told, at least 47,107 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Since October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel have killed 1,139 people and captured more than 200 people.

The first phase of the ceasefire also meant the release of 33 Israeli prisoners from Gaza and about 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli detention. To date, three Israeli prisoners and 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released.

Phases two and three have been agreed in principle, but details are still being negotiated. The second phase is expected to see the release of remaining Israeli prisoners in exchange for a “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.

This goal would contradict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous pledge to maintain control of Gaza’s security indefinitely after the war. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government have also called for a return to fighting after the first phase is completed.

Details of the third phase are unclear but reportedly include a multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and plans to return the bodies of captives.

The current agreement does not include any agreement on who will run Gaza after the war.

“Not confident”

Witkov’s interview with Fox News came a day after Trump told reporters he had “no confidence” in the ceasefire agreement being implemented.

“That’s not our war. It’s their war. But I have no confidence,” Trump told reporters during a photo session at the White House. “I saw a picture of Gaza. Gaza looked like a massive demolition site.”

The US president, whose first term ran from 2017 to 2021, called for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel before Inauguration Day. promising If not, “the price is hell.”

It’s unclear how Trump would respond if Israel violates the deal.

Trump has generally been more willing to defer to Israeli interests than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

Still, the Biden administration has pledged “unwavering” support for Israel and has refused to use billions of dollars in U.S. military support to Israel in exchange for a ceasefire.

Both Trump and Biden have claimed credit for reaching a ceasefire this month.

As Trump begins his second term, he is expected to expand U.S. support for Israel. his administrativeFor example, it is packed with pro-Israel hawks, including supporters of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

he has Peel back The Biden era imposes sanctions on Israeli settler groups accused of violence against Palestinians.

Still, Trump has pledged to be a global peacemaker and end conflicts overseas as part of his “America First” agenda.

Speaking on Wednesday, Witkopf credited Trump’s “peace through strength” approach as the driving force behind the ceasefire, while acknowledging that the incoming administration was not involved in the “mathematics” that constituted the terms of the agreement.

renewed push for normalization

Vitkov also said he hopes to revive Israeli-Arab normalization efforts that Trump spearheaded during his first term to reduce Israel’s diplomatic isolation.

The so-called Abraham Accords saw Israel establish diplomatic relations with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, but the negotiations have been widely criticized for neglecting Palestinian interests.

Experts also say the future of the Abraham Accords has been falling into doubt Regional anger over Gaza war.

Still, Witkov said he believed a long-elusive normalization deal with Saudi Arabia was still possible. He went further and said he believed every country in the region could “participate” in such an agreement.

“My personal view is that the prerequisite for normalization is a ceasefire,” Witkov said. “We need to get people to believe again.”

Asked what other countries he thought were willing to reach a deal, Witkov pointed to Qatar and praised its role as a mediator in the Gaza negotiations.

Qatar has repeatedly rejected the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel.