Trump’s Middle East Envoy Visits Israel in Show of Support for Gaza Cease-Fire

The top American envoy to the Middle East was to meet on Wednesday with Israel’s prime minister and, potentially, visit the Gaza Strip to reinforce a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that, if made permanent, would allow thousands more displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.

The envoy, Steven Witkoff, was expected to inspect the Netzarim Corridor, a four-mile strip that bisects Gaza, where American security contractors have been enlisted to help handle the return of displaced Palestinians. He would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Gaza in years, both because of security concerns and the official American no-contact policy with Hamas.

An Israeli official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Witkoff had arrived in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several of his top aides after discussions on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for a broader Middle East peace plan. Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, will also be present at the meeting between Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday, according to another Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the minister’s schedule.

David Mencer, a government spokesman, said that the Israeli authorities would not confirm any meetings on Wednesday with Mr. Witkoff, including a possible visit to the Netzarim Corridor, until after they had concluded.

Mr. Witkoff said in a Fox News interview last week that he planned to visit both the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza and, farther south, the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt during the trip, but the timing was unclear as travel schedules are usually closely held to ensure security. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and Mr. Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

In the early days of the 15-month war, the Israeli military ordered a mass evacuation of northern Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee south. For months, Israeli soldiers patrolled the Netzarim Corridor in part to prevent Palestinians from heading back north.

But under the terms of a 42-day cease-fire agreement that was reached last week, Israeli troops on Monday withdrew from the two main roads along the Netzarim Corridor to allow Gazans to head north. By Tuesday, more than 376,000 people had reached northern Gaza, according to the latest data from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The American firm Safe Reach Solutions is expected to oversee the operational management of the corridor, according to a person familiar with the plan, while two other firms — one American, one Egyptian — will handle the actual inspections of those heading north.

The Philadelphi Corridor, as it is known in Israel, is a roughly eight-mile border strip between Egypt and Gaza. Israeli troops currently maintain control of the area, but they are expected to withdraw during the second phase of the cease-fire, the details of which are still being negotiated. Mr. Netanyahu has called the corridor a “lifeline” for Hamas’s smuggling operations.

Mr. Witkoff played an important role in brokering the initial cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, teaming with officials from the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt in the days before the Trump inauguration.

Mr. Witkoff’s visit comes ahead of the third round of hostage and prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hamas that is expected on Thursday. Israeli soldier Agam Berger and two Israeli civilians — Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses — are to be released on Thursday along with five Thai citizens, said Omer Dostri, the prime minister’s spokesman.

Mr. Mencer said three more hostages would be released on Saturday. Under the cease-fire deal, 33 Israeli hostages were to be released in the first phase in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Seven have already returned home, and eight of the remaining hostages are no longer alive, according to Israeli officials.

Mr. Netanyahu has been invited to meet with President Trump on Feb. 4 at the White House. The Trump administration is trying to broker a wider Middle East peace agreement that would include a diplomatic normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a deal that Mr. Trump sought during his first term. But that pact largely hinges on plans for Gaza’s future.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Qatar to discuss continued cooperation in Gaza. That would include “post-conflict planning to ensure Hamas can never govern Gaza or threaten Israel again,” according to a State Department readout of Mr. Rubio’s call with the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty. Though Hamas has been weakened, the militant group survived the war in Gaza and remains the most powerful Palestinian party in the territory.

Mr. Trump has also called on Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza, and “clean out” the territory, he told reporters this past weekend. That has been roundly rejected by both countries, and on Wednesday, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization spoke with Mr. Abdelatty to reaffirm Egypt’s dismissal of Mr. Trump’s proposal.

“Ways to consolidate the cease-fire and provide humanitarian aid were discussed, and support for the Palestinian people to remain on their land and the absolute rejection of their displacement were emphasized,” the P.L.O. secretary general, Hussein al-Sheikh, said on social media. Mr. al-Sheikh is considered a potential successor to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr. Witkoff also met with Mr. al-Sheikh, in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, before traveling to Israel, according to two Palestinian officials who requested anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, was also at the meeting, the officials said.

Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.