WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday that it was sending an envoy to the Middle East for talks that aim to finalize a “corridor” for aid to war-ravaged Gaza, where authorities said people are dying of starvation.
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s globe-trotting negotiator, is traveling to the region for new talks, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
Witkoff comes with “a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to,” she said.
Bruce declined to give further details on his itinerary or the corridor, saying that he was traveling around Gaza.
She did not say how the diplomacy would relate to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial initiative backed by Israel and the United States that has seen chaotic scenes of troops firing on hungry Palestinians racing for food.
The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the GHF began its operations in late May, with most near the foundation’s sites.
US envoy to discuss finalizing Gaza aid ‘corridor’: State Dept
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US envoy to discuss finalizing Gaza aid ‘corridor’: State Dept
- Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s globe-trotting negotiator, is traveling to the region for new talks
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
