Witkoff to Host Gaza Talks in Miami with Egyptian, Turkish, Qatari Officials
US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is set to hold official talks with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Miami, today, December 19, to discuss the next phase of the Gaza peace deal, according to AFP.
The second phase of the deal features Israel’s withdrawal from its positions in Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilization force while assigning the governance of Gaza to an interim authority instead of Hamas.
Since October’s agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect, progress has been so slow in moving to the following stage.
Friday’s talks will bring together Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, along with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
“Turkey will continue to fight determinedly on every front to ensure that what is happening in Gaza is not forgotten, that justice is served,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a speech on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on December 29, as part of the US efforts to maintain a long-term agreement.
The talks come at a crucial time as concerns have been increasing due to Israel’s ongoing violation of the ceasefire deal.
Last weekend, Israel announced it had struck and murdered the head of weapons production in Hamas’s military wing in the Palestinian enclave.
These moves led officials to describe the US-brokered ceasefire deal as “fragile” with both sides alleging violations.
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