Trump to chair meeting to chart out a ‘broad plan’ for post-war Gaza
Gaza City: Israeli and US officials were to meet Wednesday in Washington to discuss post-war Gaza, even as Israel’s military called the evacuation of Gaza City “inevitable” ahead of a new offensive and no signs of a ceasefire were in sight.
The meeting comes amid mounting outrage over this week’s double Israeli strike on a southern Gaza hospital that killed journalists, emergency responders and others. The toll from the attack on Nasser Hospital rose to 22 after two more people died Wednesday, Gaza health officials said.
The Israeli military, which has said it will investigate, offered no immediate
explanation for striking twice and no evidence for an assertion that six of the dead were militants.
As a growing chorus of international leaders urge Israel to reconsider its offensive and commit to talks, Pope Leo XIV called for Israel to halt the “collective punishment” and forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Aid groups warn that an expanded Israeli military offensive could
worsen the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where most of the over 2 million residents have been displaced, neighbourhoods lie in ruins and a famine has been declared in Gaza City.
The Israeli military on Wednesday told residents of Gaza City to prepare to leave.
“The evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in Arabic on X. He said Israeli forces have surveyed vast empty areas south of the city “to assist the evacuating residents as much as possible.”
In Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to meet Wednesday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Witkoff told Fox News on Tuesday that President Donald Trump would chair a separate meeting, which would feature “a very comprehensive plan.”
He did not offer details about that meeting, which did not appear on Trump’s public schedule for Wednesday.
Witkoff also said the official US position was that hostages — Hamas’ main source of leverage — should no longer be part of negotiations. He told Fox News the talks should instead focus on issues such as Gaza’s future and how to define Hamas in that context. The meeting comes nine days after Hamas said it accepted a ceasefire plan from Arab mediators, following Israel’s announced plans to seize Gaza’s biggest city, where some health and infrastructure services remain online.
