U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Israel to assess the state of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip as reports of widespread starvation have invigorated demands for an immediate ceasefire.
Witkoff is preparing to visit Israel for the first time since May, reportedly seeking assurance that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-Israel joint venture, is progressing in relieving the widespread hunger.
“The president wants to know more about what the humanitarian situation in Gaza is in order to know how to get more assistance to civilians in Gaza,” an official told Axios of the visit. Witkoff will reportedly arrive on Thursday.
Witkoff has spearheaded the White House’s negotiations to establish a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since President Donald Trump took office. The special envoy has not visited the Jewish state since he met with American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander in mid-May.
Since then, pressure has been mounting to bring peace talks over the finish line as France and the United Kingdom threaten to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state due to outrage over the insufficient humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
Even Trump rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that there is “no starvation” in the Gaza Strip, telling reporters, “[Palestinian] children look very hungry.”
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Washington Examiner that there is little indication of “overt friction” between the United States and Israel, but “there’s no question right now that Israel needs to address these allegations head-on.”
“It’s no surprise that both in the U.S and in Israel and elsewhere, that this would be a topic of conversation,” Schanzer said. “So, I mean, I don’t find it surprising, but I would absolutely throw cold water on the notion that these two men are at loggerheads right now.”
“When Trump takes issue with you, you know … it’s unambiguous,” he added. “I don’t see that right now between these two world leaders.”
At the same time Witkoff is preparing to fly to Israel, Mossad chief David Barnea is visiting Washington D.C. and New York on an unannounced trip.
The intelligence director was photographed after reportedly praying at the grave of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson in New York following undisclosed talks in Washington, D.C., according to Israeli outlet Ynet.
It is unknown if Barnea’s meetings are directly linked to the GHF. Like Witkoff, the spy chief oversees diverse files, such as starvation concerns, Iranian nuclear capabilities, the normalization of post-revolution Syria, and beyond.
Regardless, Schanzer told the Washington Examiner that the two officials’ simultaneous travel shows that close cooperation continues between the governments despite their public discrepancies on the humanitarian issue.
“You see the collaboration between these two countries, these two bureaucracies, really across the U.S government structure — across the Israeli government structure — and it goes deep as well,” Schanzer said. “In other words, it goes from low-level bureaucrats to the most senior officials. And so there are always multiple files that are being juggled, and right now, all the more so.”
“When you see senior people coming and going, it’s a sign that there are urgent needs that need to be taken care of,” he added.
Trump and his administration continue to side with Israel against any proposed two-state solution, claiming that such an outcome would only reward terrorism.
TIDE SHIFTS AGAINST ISRAEL OVER IMAGES OF STARVING CHILDREN IN GAZA
“You could make the case that you’re rewarding people, that you know you’re rewarding Hamas if you do that,” the president said. “And I don’t think they should be rewarded. So I’m not in that camp, to be honest.”
Approximately 20 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, as well as the remains of up to 50 more.