President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have arrived in Israel.
They are overseeing the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which they helped broker, and are expected to meet members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Prior to arriving in Israel, Kushner told a news agency that Israel must help the Palestinians succeed if it wants to integrate into the Middle East.
Kushner, who has no formal role in the White House, but is working as Trump’s emissary to the Middle East sat alongside US Special Envoy to the Middle East in the interview.
“The biggest message that we’ve tried to convey to the Israeli leadership now is that, now that the war is over if you want to integrate Israel with the broader Middle East, you have to find a way to help the Palestinian people thrive and do better.”
Jared Kushner
When asked how they were sending that message, he responded that they were “just getting started.”
He added that they have seen Hamas “looking to honour the agreement” in place.
“As far as we’ve seen from what’s being conveyed to us from the mediators, they are so far [acting in good faith]. That could break down at any minute, but right now- we have seen them looking to honour their agreement.”
Jared Kushner
Meanwhile, Witkoff said that he believes it could cost about $50bn to rebuild and reconstruct the Gaza Strip after relentless Israeli bombardments reduced much of the territory to rubble.
“The estimates are in the $50bn range. It might be a little bit less; it might be a little bit more. I happen to think that that’s not a lot of money in that region.”
Steve Witkoff
The UN estimates that about $70bn is needed to rebuild Gaza after two years of Israel’s war.
A UN development programme has also said that there are promising early signs of potential donors for reconstruction from Arab states, European countries and the US.
The US was by far Israel’s biggest arms supplier during the war, helpfing fuel the intense attacks across the Gaza Strip, but some European countries, notably Germany, also approved a significant amount of military equipment exports to Israel.
Under the terms of the first phase of Trump’s ceasefire deal, aid was meant to surge into Gaza, but humanitarian agencies have warned that aid remains scarce across the territory, with many Israeli restrictions having remained in place, throttling the supply of desperately needed assistance.
Sam Rose, Acting Director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza told a news agency that “bureaucratic constraints” are still preventing the delivery of vital supplies.
He said the volume of aid is still “way below what is needed.” At least 600 trucks are needed every day – at a minimum – to start addressing Gaza’s dire humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
Rose said that it is not just the “basics” Palestinian people need to survive but other forms of aid/assistance are also needed, but are not always being allowed in by Israel, including educational supplies and temporary accommodation.
Witkoff, Kushner Criticised
However, Knesset member, Amit Halevi attacked Witkoff and Kushner in an interview.
He asserted that Witkoff, Kushner “and their group are leading us to the gates of hell.”
“The next step is to push us to the gates of hell; that’s what it means to bring in the Qataris, the Turks, and the Emiratis. None of them will come when there’s a Hamas gun pointed at their backs—that’s clear to everyone, so these things are just illusions being sold to the public.”
Amit Halevi
He asserted that Witkoff “should have realized long ago that the Middle East is not like running a business in Miami.” He added that it’s “time for the West to understand a bit more deeply the enemy it faces and to respond accordingly.”
