Steve Witkoff, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, is considering visiting the Gaza Strip as part of his efforts to preserve the cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, that went into effect at 11;15 a.m., American news network NBC reported.
To emphasize how fragile the president-elect's team believes the deal is, Witkoff also plans to serve as a "near-constant" presence in the Middle East in the coming months. This, according to the source, is to resolve problems on the ground that he believes could derail the agreement and stop the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"You have to be right on top of it, ready to snuff out a problem if it happens," an official said. At the same time, Trump's envoy is working to achieve long-term stability for Israelis and the roughly two million displaced Palestinians, through the three-phase agreement reached last week.
For now, Witkoff’s main concern is an unforeseen incident that would arise from the daily interaction between Israelis and Palestinians in and around the Gaza Strip, despite the cease-fire.
“Remember, there’s a lot of people, radicals, fanatics, not just from the Hamas side, from the right wing of the Israeli side, who are absolutely incentivized to blow this whole deal up,” the transition official said.
A source said that Witkoff visiting Gaza will allow him to see the dynamics there for himself, rather than relying on the word of Israel or the Palestinians on the matter. "You got to see it, you got to feel it," he said.
While Trump and his team are working on the first phase of the deal and helping negotiate the second phase, they are also working on long-term solutions. “If we don’t help the Gazans, if we don’t make their lives better, if we don’t give them a sense of hope, there's going to be a rebellion,” the official said.
The question of how to rebuild Gaza remains, as does where to relocate some two million Palestinians at the same time. According to the source, Indonesia is a possible host country being discussed where some of the Palestinians could be sent. The question of whether the Gazans would be willing to relocate for a while also arose.
The idea of relocation is controversial among Palestinians and their Arab counterparts. Many believe that relocation would be the first step in Israel forcing them to leave their land.
However, at this stage, the issue of bringing humanitarian aid into the Strip, as agreed in the first phase of the deal, remains a challenge. Israel still worries that Hamas will steal any aid that is brought into Gaza, while the humanitarian crisis there worsens. Despite the entry of aid to Gaza, hunger and disease are still prevalent in the Gaza Strip.
Witkoff, a real estate developer who has known Trump for decades, entered the negotiations alongside Joe Biden’s team, which has been working on a deal for more than a year. Trump's one directive in these negotiations was to bring the hostages home, and if not, come back and explain why you couldn’t, the source explained.
The president-elect’s envoy used Trump’s history with Israel and his dynamic with Netanyahu to pressure the Israelis. For example, he went to meet the prime minister on Saturday to have a harsh exchange. Witkoff told people privately that his words to Netanyahu that Saturday, January 11, were not a threat and that he had been invited to his residence by one of his close aides, Minister Ron Dermer.
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According to the source, Witkoff gave Netanyahu a reality check about his intentions with the deal, telling him what was needed to reach an agreement, including Israel sending a senior representative to negotiate in Doha who could make decisions in real time. In talks with Israeli officials, Witkoff didn’t hesitate to point out everything Trump has done for Israel. During his first term as president, he moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and cut humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.