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4h ago

U.S. Envoy Heads to Europe and Middle East to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Truce Plan

The mission aims to break impasses over Israeli troop positioning, unlock hostage exchanges, open vital humanitarian corridors

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff waits for the arrival of President Donald Trump at Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, N.J., en route to attend the Club World Cup final soccer match, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Displaced Palestinian walk with their belongings in the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, July 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff attends an interview after participating in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool
Envoy Steve Witkoff with Trump at the White House in May. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Overview

  • Special Envoy Steve Witkoff departed for Europe and the Middle East on July 22 to secure a U.S.-proposed 60-day truce linking hostage releases to a surge of humanitarian aid.
  • Talks have stalled over Israel’s insistence on maintaining troop positions in Gaza and Hamas’s demand for clear guarantees against renewed fighting.
  • Under the U.S. framework, Hamas would release some of the 50 hostages it holds, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners and both sides would negotiate a permanent ceasefire during the truce.
  • On Sunday Gaza saw its deadliest aid-seeking day in more than 21 months, as at least 85 Palestinians were killed trying to reach food deliveries.
  • U.S. mediators, supported by Qatar and Egypt, will press for detailed troop redeployment plans before agreeing to open safe humanitarian corridors.