Trump to chair ‘large’ meeting on ‘comprehensive’ postwar Gaza plan

CAIRO – 27 August 2025: US special envoy Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump will chair a “large meeting” in the White House on Wednesday on a “very comprehensive plan” for postwar Gaza.

Witkoff did not give further details about the meeting or its participants as he spoke during an interview with Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” show on Tuesday.

“we've got a large meeting in the White House tomorrow, chaired by the president, and it's a very comprehensive plan we're putting together on the next day.”

Asked about the aspired end to the war and the release of captives from Gaza, Witkoff said “we think that we’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year.”

He asserted that Israel is open to continuing talks with Hamas and that the Palestinian group says they accept a latest ceasefire proposal due to “very intense pressure on them” by the Israelis.

Hamas last week accepted a proposal for a temporary ceasefire and captive-prisoner swap put forward by Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar.

The proposal includes the release of 10 living captives and 18 bodies, representing more than half of the captives still held by Hamas in Gaza through a 60-day ceasefire period. During this time, both parties should negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

Israel has not yet accepted or rejected the proposal but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he has approved the resumption of “immediate” negotiations to secure the release of all captives and end the war “on terms acceptable to Israel.”

Witkoff stated that Trump’s official position on Gaza opposes further partial captive deals.

“That’s the official position, and that’s President Trump’s official position. I think that he has said to himself, ‘You don’t need to keep those hostages,’” Witkoff said.

These developments come while Israel has started a globally-condemned offensive aimed at taking over Gaza City and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced people there.

Israeli forces have killed dozens in Gaza City during attacks on suburbs including Sabra and Tuffah since the start of the operation, forcing many families to flee in terror.

On Monday, Israel has drawn global condemnation and calls for justice by the United Nations after a double strike on the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, which killed at least 20 people, including five journalists. Israel said it targeted a "camera" positioned by Hamas.

The deceased journalists included Hossam Al-Masri from Reuters, Mariam Abu Dagga from the Associated Press (AP), Mohammad Salama from Al Jazeera, and freelance journalists Muaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israel has killed nearly 63,000 people in Gaza, including 247 journalists, and injured over 158,000 more, while displacing the majority of the population and starving hundreds of thousands of residents.

A UN-backed food security analysis released on Friday officially confirmed that famine is underway in Gaza, marking the first such declaration since the onset of the war.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, more than 500,000 people are currently facing famine conditions, with the crisis expected to spread across other areas of the strip in the coming weeks.

Health authorities in Gaza reported on Tuesday three more deaths due to famine and malnutrition, upping the total to 303, including 117 children.