Witkoff, Kushner meet Netanyahu in Israel as clashes test Trump
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The fragile peace agreement that President Trump spearheaded between Israel and Hamas in Gaza On Monday he appeared to have survived serious threats over the weekend. The top U.S. officials who helped negotiate the ceasefire and hostage release deal — senior envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — returned to Israel on Monday to help ensure it does not fall apart.
Israel attacked multiple targets inside Gaza after a deadly attack on Israeli soldiers. Hamas has rejected Israel’s claim that it was involved in that attack.
On Monday, the skies over Gaza were calm again following the most serious threat since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10. Hamas and Israel accused each other of violating the terms of Trump’s peace plan over the weekend, but both sides recommitted to the process on Monday.
However, for a tense couple of days, war returned to Gaza. Local health officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said 45 people were killed in Israeli strikes.
Speaking on Monday in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had dropped nearly 169 tons of bombs on Gaza over the weekend.
“One of our hands holds a gun, the other is extended for peace,” he told lawmakers. “Peace is made with the strong, not with the weak. Today Israel is stronger than ever.”
The Israel Defense Forces said they launched the attack after two soldiers were killed when Hamas operatives opened fire with an RPG.
As mediators scrambled to get the peace process back on track, President Trump said the situation would be “handled harshly, but appropriately,” adding that he believed the ceasefire remained in effect.
Over the weekend, Palestinian families went out to enjoy a moment of tranquility at a seaside cafe in Gaza, when cameras captured the moment an Israeli attack broke the peace.
Many feared that the blood-soaked scenes left after the explosions were a sign that two years of relentless violence had resumed after just a week.
“We were having tea,” Salih Salman said, “when suddenly they bombed people.”
Once again, Gaza’s paralyzed hospitals were filled with dozens of wounded after multiple Israeli attacks.
The IDF said it was attacking Hamas forces responsible for ceasefire violations and provided video purportedly showing armed Hamas fighters advancing toward Israeli troops.
A media center in central Gaza was one of the locations bombed. The attack killed a cameraman and an engineer and injured three other people.
“Here we are all journalists,” Ajeb Mohamed protested at the scene. “No one else can enter here.”
More than 220 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the international advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
Amid renewed fighting and finger-pointing over the weekend, an Israeli official said all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza would be suspended. However, on Monday, COGAT, the Israeli government agency that handles affairs in the Palestinian territories, told News themezone that the Kerem Shalom border crossing was open to aid transit.
The United Nations and several humanitarian aid agencies have repeatedly called since the ceasefire came into force for Israel to open all border crossings into Gaza to allow in many more food, water, medicines, construction materials and other essential items.
The influx of aid, which the U.S. peace plan says should be maximized under the ceasefire, is likely to be among the key issues when Witkoff and Kushner meet with Israeli officials this week to ensure the process stays on track. Vice President JD Vance will also visit Israel this week and meet with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu met with Witkoff and Kushner on Monday to discuss “developments and updates in the region,” Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesman for Netanyahu’s office, said Monday.
She added that Vance and his wife were also expected to be in the country “for a few days and will meet with the prime minister,” but neither she nor the White House have confirmed the Vances’ arrival date.
Trump tasked Witkoff and Kushner with negotiating the peace deal, and in a exclusive interview with 60 Minutes which aired on Sunday, said that an apology phone call from Netanyahu to Qatar’s leader, over an unprecedented incident Airstrikes against the capital of the United States ally, Doha.and a moment of personal connection between Witkoff and Hamas’s chief negotiator marked two key turning points that led to the ceasefire.
In:
- J.D. Vance
- Jared Kushner
- Hamas
- Cease-fire
- donald trump
- Loop
- Steve Witkoff
- Palestinians
- Middle East
- Benjamin Netanyahu