NEW YORK: US envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday he expected a breakthrough related to Gaza in the coming days, saying President Donald Trump had presented a plan to regional countries.
Witkoff, a real estate friend of Trump who has become his roving ambassador, said the US president shared ideas when meeting with a group of Arab and Islamic countries Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza,” Witkoff said.
“I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region,” he told the Concordia summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”
Witkoff and Trump have repeatedly voiced hope for ending the devastating nearly two-year war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was more somber on a trip last week to Israel, which has launched massive new offensive to seize Gaza City.
Trump envoy Witkoff expects Middle East ‘breakthrough’ in coming days
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Trump envoy Witkoff expects Middle East ‘breakthrough’ in coming days
- “We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast and Gaza,” Witkoff said
- “I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region“
Israel army ‘temporarily suspends’ strike on south Lebanon
- The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it would “temporarily” suspend a strike planned for Saturday that was intended to target what it described as Hezbollah military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
A November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
But Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.
The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
But later Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “the strike was temporarily suspended,” adding that the military “continues to monitor the target.”
The suspension came after the Lebanese army “requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement,” he said on X.
Adraee added that the military would “not allow” Hezbollah to “redeploy or rearm.”
The year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism includes the United Nations, the United States and France.
A Lebanese security source said the army had previously tried to search the building that the Israeli military wanted to target but could not because of objections from residents.
But the source told AFP that the Lebanese army was able to enter and search the building after returning a second time, because residents “felt threatened,” adding that they were evacuated over fears of a strike.
