Special envoy Steve Witkoff revealed President Donald Trump is set to hold a meeting on Wednesday on how to rebuild Gaza, should Israel and Hamas clinch a peace deal ending the war in the region.
During a Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier interview on whether there is a postwar plan for Gaza, Witkoff said Trump would hold a “large meeting” at the White House on “a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together.”
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“I think many people are going to be, they’re going to see how robust it is and how it’s, how well-meaning it is,” said Witkoff, who has become Trump’s lead negotiator in multiple peace deals. “It reflects President Trump’s humanitarian motives here.”
Witkoff expressed confidence that the conflict would be settled “certainly before the end of this year” and said Hamas and Israel are considering a resolution to the war. Calling Gaza “a very dangerous place,” he suggested the territory will warrant massive intervention to make a comeback from Hamas control and the current war, which started on Oct. 7, 2023.
“There are over 30,000 unexploded munitions all over the place. It is a demolition zone, and it’s a tough place,” he said during the Fox News interview Tuesday evening.
The return of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 continues to be a sticking point of negotiations to end the war, Witkoff said, with Israel asserting it will only agree to a peace deal that returns all the captives in one sweep.
“That’s the official position, and that’s President Trump’s official position,” the special envoy told Baier. “We’ll have a negotiation if they want, as to what the next day looks like after this is all done, and what the definition of Hamas is. We can talk about those things, but we adamantly want, and I’m following the president’s direction here when I say this, all of those hostages home.”
Witkoff placed pressure on Hamas to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza, suggesting that making the “accommodation” could help advance a peace settlement, which he said Hamas and Israel are considering.
“Hamas is now signaling that they are open to a settlement,” Witkoff said. “The Israelis, when they announced this operation, also announced at the same time that they were funding $600 million of aid to go into Gaza, and in addition to that, they also announced that they were open to continuing discussions with Hamas.”
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“So it’s not a maximalist approach on the Israelis’ part, they’re indicating that they have accommodations to make if Hamas decides to make them,” he continued. “And we’ve suggested, by the way, that Hamas can begin by feeding the hostages, by giving them medical attention, by letting the Red Cross in, by doing the humane thing. But the president is a humanitarian. That’s what he wants to see.”
Amid the talks of a settlement and “next day plan” for Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also set to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon.