U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday in an effort to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu’s office stated that the meeting was part of a push to advance talks between Israel and Hamas to return hostages being held in Gaza.
In a separate move, Netanyahu dispatched a high-level delegation, including the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency, to Qatar to further negotiate the release of the hostages. This delegation was received warmly by the families of the Israeli hostages, who described the move as a “historic opportunity.”
The mediators, who include Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages before Trump takes office on January 20. The deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Witkoff had arrived in Doha on Friday and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, where he provided reassurances that the U.S. would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, although he did not provide details.
The fighting in Gaza has resulted in devastating consequences, including the deaths of over 46,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, and much of the enclave has been left in ruins.
On Saturday, the Palestinian civil emergency service reported that eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a former school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military claimed that the strike was targeting Hamas militants operating at the school and had taken measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.
Later in the day, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service reported that five people were killed and several others were wounded in two Israeli strikes. One of the strikes killed three people in a house near the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, and the Israeli military claimed that it had struck a Hamas militant in the area.