TEL AVIV: US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported dozens of Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to collect humanitarian aid, the latest in a spate of near-daily incidents of desperate aid seekers being shot.
The Israeli military confirmed having fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around aid trucks, but said it had no knowledge of casualties in the incident.
With talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal at an impasse, Witkoff met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss humanitarian aid and the “next steps” on Gaza, AFP reported.
Witkoff may also visit a US-backed humanitarian group distributing food in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.
Witkoff has been the top US representative in the indirect Israel-Hamas talks, but discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.
Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree to a ceasefire and allow the world to flood a hungry Gaza with food, with Canada the latest Western country to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the ongoing conflict squarely on Hamas.
“The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” he declared.
Trump has been Israel’s staunchest international defender, but the two leaders have occasionally found themselves at odds of late.
Earlier this week, Trump promised to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the territory faces “real starvation” — directly contradicting Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger were exaggerated.
UN-backed experts, meanwhile, have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing outrage and powers like France, Britain, and now Canada lining up to support Palestinian statehood.
Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters.
Germany’s top diplomat Johann Wadephul was expected in Israel on Thursday for talks with Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
“Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority,” Wadephul warned before setting off, noting that Germany’s European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace”.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign on Gaza, killing at least 60,249 Palestinians, according to a tally from the territory’s health ministry. This week, UN aid agencies warned that deaths from starvation had begun.
On Wednesday night, Gaza’s civil defence agency said gunfire killed at least 58 people in a crowd gathered around a humanitarian aid convoy in the north of the territory.
According to witnesses, the trucks had entered Gaza through the Israeli military checkpoint at Zikim, on their way to World Central Kitchen and the World Food Programme warehouses in Gaza City, AFP reported.
Thousands of people rushed to stop the trucks before they continued to the warehouses, and shooting erupted.
Gaza’s civil defence agency on Thursday reported another 32 people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza.
