US Envoy Meets Israeli Hostage Families In Tel Aviv
Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, before going into a closed meeting with the families.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed the meeting was underway and videos shared online showed Witkoff arriving as families chanted "Bring them home!" and "We need your help."
The visit came one day after Witkoff visited a US-backed aid station in Gaza, to inspect efforts to get food into the devastated Palestinian territory.
Yotam Cohen, brother of 21-year-old hostage Nimrod Cohen, told AFP in the square: "The war needs to end. The Israeli government will not end it willingly. It has refused to do so.
"The Israeli government must be stopped. For our sakes, for our soldiers' sakes, for our hostages' sakes, for our sons and for the future generations of everybody in the Middle East."
After the meeting, the Forum released a statement saying that Witkoff had given them a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages.
The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, had been mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that would allow the hostages to be released and humanitarian aid to flow more freely.
But talks broke down last month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing domestic pressure to come up with another way to secure the missing hostages, alive and dead.
He is also facing international calls to open Gaza's borders to more food aid, after UN and humanitarian agencies warned that more than two million Palestinian civilians are facing starvation.
But Israel's top general warned that there would be no respite in fighting in Gaza if the hostages were not released.
"I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement.
"If not, the combat will continue without rest," he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday.
Of the 251 people who were kidnapped from Israel during Hamas's attack in October 2023, 49 remain in Gaza, 27 of them dead, according to the military.
Palestinian armed groups this week released two videos of hostages looking emaciated and weak.
Zamir denied that there was widespread starvation in Gaza.
"The current campaign of false accusations of intentional starvation is a deliberate, timed, and deceitful attempt to accuse the IDF (Israeli military), a moral army, of war crimes," he said.
"The ones responsible for the killing and suffering of the residents in the Gaza Strip is Hamas."
Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
A total of 898 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, according to the military.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,332 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 21 people in the territory on Saturday.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two people were killed and another 26 injured after an Israeli strike on a central Gaza area where Palestinians had gathered before a food distribution point run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
He added that Saturday's bombings mostly targeted the areas near the southern city of Khan Yunis and Gaza City in the north.
Witkoff visited another GHF site for five hours on Friday, promising that Trump would come up with a plan to better feed civilians.
Adnan Abu Hasna, of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told AFP that the agency had "approximately 6,000 trucks ready for the Gaza Strip, but the crossings are closed by political decision. There are five land crossings into the Strip through which 1,000 trucks can enter daily."
The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories on Friday said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27, most of them by the Israeli military.
Israel's military insist that soldiers never deliberately target civilians and accuses Hamas fighters of looting UN and humanitarian aid trucks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here as a caricature during a protest in Tel Aviv, is under increasing domestic and international pressure to resolve the conflict AFP US envoy Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
an hour ago
- Int'l Business Times
Peace Offering? Donald Trump's Nobel Obsession
A craving for international prestige, a decade-long Obama rivalry and perhaps a dash of provocation: a mercurial melange of factors is at play in Donald Trump's obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize. "It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on July 31, prompting reactions of disbelief and sarcasm from the Republican leader's opponents. Since his January 20 return to power, the US president "has brokered, on average, one peace deal or ceasefire per month," Leavitt said, citing as examples his mediations between India and Pakistan; Cambodia and Thailand; Egypt and Ethiopia; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Serbia and Kosovo; and others. His leading spokeswoman also mentioned Iran, where Trump ordered US strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities, as evidence of decisions Leavitt claims have contributed to world peace. She made no mention of the conflict in Ukraine, which Trump pledged multiple times to end on "day one" of his term, or the war in Gaza, which rumbles on and for which the US supplies Israel with weapons. For some foreign leaders, mentioning the prestigious award has become a sign of diplomatic goodwill toward an American president who envisions himself as a peacemaker. Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During an early July meeting at the White House, a journalist asked the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and Gabon whether Trump deserved the award. Basking in the flattering responses from the African leaders, a smiling Trump said: "We could do this all day long." Tens of thousands of people can offer a nomination to the Nobel committee, including lawmakers, ministers, certain university professors, former laureates and members of the committee themselves. Nominations are due by January 31, with the announcement coming in October -- this year on the 10th of the month. Law professor Anat Alon-Beck, who is an Israeli-American, submitted Trump's name to the committee's five members, who were appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. The assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law told AFP she did so because of the "extraordinary leadership" and "strategic brilliance" he has shown, in her opinion, in advancing peace and securing the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. For some, the prospect of handing the prize to someone who has upended the international order is untenable. "Nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize is like entering a hyena in a dog show," US history and politics researcher Emma Shortis wrote on news site The Conversation. "Of course Trump does not deserve it." The American president disagrees. "I deserve it, but they will never give it to me," Trump told reporters in February as he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, lamenting not ticking the Nobel box in his life. "No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be," Trump griped on his Truth Social platform in June. "But the people know, and that's all that matters to me!" Trump is well-known as someone who is particularly fond of accolades and prizes, Garret Martin, a professor of international relations at American University, told AFP, "so he would welcome this major international recognition." And since the beginning of his presidential ambitions 10 years ago, "he has put himself in opposition to Barack Obama, who famously won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009," Martin added. The prize awarded to the Democratic former president, barely nine months after he took office, sparked heated debate -- and continues to do so. "If I were named Obama I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds," Trump bellyached in October 2024, during the final stretch of the presidential campaign. Three other US presidents have also been so honored: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter. The prize was also awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973 for his efforts to help end the war in Vietnam. The choice of the one-time US secretary of state was heavily criticized. The full list of Nobel Peace Prize nominees is confidential -- except for individual announcements by sponsors -- but their number is made public. In 2025, there are 338 nominees. Some betting sites have Trump in second place to win, behind Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. US President Donald Trump has spoken repeatedly about his interest in winning the Nobel Peace Prize AFP
DW
8 hours ago
- DW
Middle East updates: Germany says Gaza aid 'insufficient' – DW – 08/02/2025
The German government said it has taken note of "limited initial progress" in aid entering Gaza but said the amount was "very insufficient" to meet the needs of people there. DW has the latest. Germany airdrops more humanitarian aid into Gaza, with the German government also saying more needed to be done to improve the situation in the territory. Meanwhile, US envoy Steve Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas that he would secure a deal to make sure their loved ones Bundeswehr armed forces delivered about 9.6 tons of aid into Gaza on Saturday, according to the DPA news agency. An A400M military transport aircraft dropped 22 pallets of humanitarian aid containing food and medical supplies into Gaza, the report said. The Israeli military said countries like France, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates delivered about 90 pallets of aid into Gaza on Saturday. A United Nations-affiliated organization that tracks food security worldwide issued a dire warning earlier this week about the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip. It confirmed that, based on data up to July 25, a "worse-case" famine scenario, was unfolding across Gaza. Israeli authorities control the only three border crossings at the Strip and cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March. Israeli authorities then reopened some aid centers in May, but with restrictions they said were designed to stop goods from being stolen by Hamas militants. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, Germany, the EU and others. Malnutrition-related deaths spiked in Gaza in July, according to the World Health Organization. Airdrops have been sharply criticized by some humanitarian groups as expensive, inefficient and dangerous. US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and vowed to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. "We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part," Witkoff told families of Israeli hostages who had gathered at the square to stage a protest to call upon the Israeli government to secure a deal to release their loved ones from captivity. Witkoff was cited as saying so, according to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He added, "We will do what's right for the Gazan people." Protesters had gathered at the square after a video of an Israeli hostage in Gaza was released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday. Hamas then released a video of Evyatar David, another Israeli hostage, on Friday. The video showed David in a visibly fragile state. It is unclear when those videos were filmed. Witkoff on Friday also visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The foundation has been widely criticized for failing to improve conditions in the besieged enclave. The amount of aid entering Gaza remains "very insufficient" despite limited improvement, the German government said on Saturday, after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel. Germany "notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement. "Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid," Kornelius added. German ministers had gathered on Saturday, following German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul's trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Thursday and Friday. Wadephul had called upon Israeli authorities to ensure safe access for United Nations agencies to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying the current restrictions were worsening the crisis. "The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza must end now," Wadephul had said, stressing that aid distribution through the UN had long worked effectively and needed to resume without obstacles. Good evening and welcome to weekend edition of the Middle East blog. We're tracking the news about Germany having delivered more aid into Gaza, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to the region. Witkoff has met with families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas and vowed to secure a deal to bring their loved ones home. But some families were disappointed and said they have would have liked to hear more about practical ways to secure that deal. Follow along for news, analysis, and explainers on the situation in Gaza, Israel, and the wider Middle East, on the weekend of August 2 and August 3.
DW
11 hours ago
- DW
German government takes tougher tone with Israel – DW – 08/02/2025
Germany's foreign minister visited Jerusalem on Friday and insisted that more aid be let into Gaza. Despite the tough talk, experts say it's unlikely there will be any consequences if Israel doesn't do as Germany asks. After his talks with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from the United Nations in Jerusalem, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul tried to put more pressure on the Israeli government. On Friday he made an urgent appeal to the Israelis: The government should immediately allow the UN to help the hungry people in Gaza. "That is why we call on Israel to allow the UN to transport and distribute the aid safely," Wadephul said, while in Jerusalem. "This was also part of my discussion with the Israeli government yesterday. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip must be ended now, with the help of the efficient, established UN system." The day before Wadephul had described the situation in Gaza in dramatic tones. The death and suffering there was "unimaginable," he said. Wadephul also appealed to the militant group Hamas, asking them to stop fighting and to return all the hostages they still held. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the US, Israel and other countries. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar didn't publicly express an opinion on Germany's suggestions. But Wadephul told reporters he thought Germany's message had been understood. Saar did reject accusations from his colleague in the Israeli government, the far-right extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's minister of national security. On social media platform X, Ben-Gvir said that 80 years after the Holocaust, Germany was once again supporting Nazis. Before he left Germany, Wadephul had warned that Israel was becoming increasingly isolated internationally. He also said Berlin would respond to any unilateral actions by Israel and was critical of potential Israeli plans to annex the occupied West Bank. Israel's Saar answered Ben-Gvir on social media too. "I strongly reject Minister Ben-Gvir's statements about Germany. They are unnecessary and harmful. Germany is a friendly country and Foreign Minister Wadephul is a friend of Israel. This does not change, even when there are differences of opinion between us." Germany is still pushing for a two-state solution to the intractable problems in the Middle East. Wadephul confirmed the right of the Palestinians to their own state after he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. However Netanyahu's government has rejected that idea in the recent past. Even as Germany criticizes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Israel's foreign minister sees the settlements as justified. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had sent Wadephul to Israel after a meeting of the country's so-called security cabinet. This group includes the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior and finance, as well as various intelligence services. Wadephul's mission was to make it clear that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza must be resolved and he was also to assess whether and how the Israeli government could be convinced to do this. Over this weekend, he is to report back to the Chancellor and the security cabinet. The results of this are hard to predict. Whether the German government would use sanctions against Israel, stop weapons deliveries or recognize a Palestinian state is unclear. However observers in Berlin says it's unlikely any concrete steps will be taken, because of Germany's special responsibility towards Israel, after committing the Holocaust. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Criticism is likely but sanctions won't happen, says Martin Huber, the secretary general of the conservative, Bavaria-based Christian Social Union, or CSU. Even so, the tone German politicians are using is becoming sharper, as more and more pictures of starving children in Gaza emerge. The leader of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese, told local journalists that the time for talk has passed. "We need political pressure and concrete progress," he said. The Social Democrats are part of Germany's governing coalition together with the CSU and the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU. Up until now the German government has been holding back, Andreas Reinicke, the director of the German Orient-Institute, told public radio Deutschlandfunk. But that's for good reasons, he argued, in reference to the Holocaust. However if the world now really wants a two-state solution, "then we will have to do this not only verbally, but also with an active process," Reinicke said. "I believe Germany's influence [on Israel] is greater than is commonly assumed." Meanwhile the Israeli government disputes that locals in Gaza are going hungry and insists that the siltation is actually better than depicted in the international press. Foreign Minister Saar accused media of showing misleading pictures of hungry children. "This is what a modern blood libel looks like," he wrote on social media platform X, referring to a-now-well-known picture of Osama al-Raqab, an emaciated 5-year-old. Al-Raqab has cystic fibrosis and was evacuated to Italy in June, Saar pointed out. The Israeli government's position on the issue is in opposition to what international aid agencies have observed and eyewitnesses have reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Wadephul also said that the thesis often insisted upon by the Israeli government — that Hamas will benefit from any aid shipments they allow in — is no longer justified. It could well be that Hamas previously diverted some of the shipments, he said. "But the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is now so great that it is not justified to put up further hurdles here," Wadephul insisted. Another contentious point: While the German foreign minister and others argue that the UN and the World Food Program should be taking care of supplies into Gaza, Israel and its main ally, the US, insist the newly created and increasingly controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF should be. On Friday, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, demonstratively visited a GHF aid distribution site near Rafah, in Gaza. The US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, claims the GHF has given out 100 million meals in two months. However the UN and other aid organizations say the GHF is not working properly. During past weeks, there have been reports of hundreds of people killed or wounded while trying to get aid from the GHF. On Friday, the German air force began to help, dropping palettes of aid into the Gaza Strip, flying out of Jordan. However even Germany's foreign minister considers this more a symbolic than anything particularly helpful. The crucial thing now is to send hundreds of trucks carrying food into the Gaza Strip daily, Wadephul said while in view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
