Steve Witkoff, United States Middle East envoy, is holding talks in Miami with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye as diplomatic efforts intensify to move the Gaza ceasefire into its next phase, even as Israeli military operations continue on the ground.
A White House official told Al Jazeera Arabic on Friday that Witkoff would meet representatives of the three countries to discuss the future of the agreement aimed at halting the war in Gaza. Axios reported that the meeting includes Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, Turkish Foreign Minister, and Badr Abdelatty, Egyptian Foreign Minister.
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The talks come as Israel reviews its own position. Israel’s public broadcaster said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a limited security meeting to assess the second phase of the ceasefire and possible outcomes. An Israeli official warned that Israel could resume a major military campaign against Hamas if United States President Donald Trump were to step back from the process, while adding that such a move was unlikely.
Despite repeated assurances from Washington that the truce remains in place, Israeli strikes have continued across Gaza. Israel has also been accused of failing to meet key terms of the first phase, including allowing unhindered humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Read also: Fighting erupts in Gaza as Israel, Hamas trade blame, threatening US-brokered ceasefire
Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces carried out air strikes, artillery fire and heavy gunfire in eastern Khan Younis, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reporting from Gaza. Shelling also hit Bani Suheila, an area Israel was required to withdraw from under the ceasefire terms.
Al Aqsa TV said at least three Palestinians, including a woman, were killed by Israeli artillery fire in eastern Khan Younis. The channel also reported that Israeli naval vessels opened fire on fishing boats off the coast. Elsewhere, Israeli warplanes struck Deir el Balah in central Gaza and the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City, where thick smoke was seen rising after the attack.
Read also: Israel approves Gaza ceasefire plan, but fighting continues
An Al Jazeera analysis found that Israeli forces carried out attacks on Gaza on 58 of the past 69 days since the truce began, leaving only 11 days without reported deaths, injuries, or violence.
In Washington, Trump said on Thursday that Netanyahu was likely to visit him in Florida during the Christmas holidays as pressure grows to move the agreement forward. “Yes, he will probably visit me in Florida. He wants to meet me. We have not formally arranged it yet, but he wants to meet me,” Trump told reporters, according to Al Jazeera.
Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating and guaranteeing the ceasefire, have repeatedly called for a transition to the second phase of the deal. That phase would include a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilisation force, measures seen by mediators as critical to preventing a return to full-scale war.
