JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting in Jerusalem with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday, amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.
A day after visiting Saudi Arabia, Israeli media reported that Witkoff had also been in Gaza on Wednesday to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire there, which Trump has said he wants to leverage into a broader regional accord that would include Saudi Arabia and Israel formalising diplomatic ties.
An Israeli government spokesman declined to provide any details on Witkoff’s visit to Gaza, which Israel’s Channel 13 said included an inspection of the Netzarim corridor, which tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have crossed over as they returned to their homes in the northern part of the enclave.
Israel began pulling out of the corridor on Monday and allowing their return as part of the first phase of the ceasefire, which will also see 33 hostages freed in exchange for the release of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Seven hostages have already been released since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. Three more, including a civilian woman and an elderly man, as well as a female conscript soldier, will be released on Thursday, according to Netanyahu’s office and the Hostage Families Forum.
Israel will free 110 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, according to the Palestinian prisoners’ Information Office.
Five Thai citizens abducted from Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the conflict may also be released on Thursday, according to an Israeli official.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alison Williams and Hugh Lawson)
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