US Mideast envoy traveling to region amid Gaza ceasefire efforts, State Dept says

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff is traveling to the region in an effort to help finalize a Gaza ceasefire deal, the State Department said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at a daily press briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Witkoff are hopeful that a new truce could be reached soon, alongside a humanitarian corridor to allow the flow of aid.

“In my conversation with the secretary, he has noted that special envoy Witkoff is heading to the region now, to the Gaza area,” Bruce said. “We all have, as the president and the secretary and the envoy, a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire, as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have, in fact, agreed to.”

Bruce declined to specify which area Witkoff will visit, saying: “When it comes to the specific location of the envoy, I do not have that.”

She emphasized that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains a key US concern and expressed optimism that “each day has the potential to have this be better.”

More than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023. Among the victims are several who died from malnutrition and starvation, as well as those killed in Israeli firing during aid distribution.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.