Steve Witcoff inspected the Netzarim Corridor and held talks with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

Agencies GAZA

America’s  Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff inspected the Netzarim Corridor, a six-km-wide strip of land that bisects Gaza, on Wednesday.  Earlier Witkoff, who played a key role in shaping the six-week truce, met in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aiming to reinforce Israel’s fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants in Gaza after more than 15 months of war.

Witkoff is the highest-ranking  US official to visit Gaza in years. He inspected the Netzarim Corridor, where American security contractors have been hired to help oversee the return of displaced Palestinians.

American officials have stayed away from the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea because of security concerns and Washington’s no-contact policy with Hamas, a US-designated terror group. Witkoff told Fox News last week he also plans to visit the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, but the timing of the stop there was unclear.

Israeli troops control the 13-km corridor but are expected to withdraw during the second phase of the ceasefire, the exact details of which are still being negotiated by Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu has called the corridor a lifeline for the militants’ smuggling operations.

Netanyahu is headed to Washington this weekend. Trump has invited him for talks at the White House on Tuesday, his first meeting with a foreign leader since starting his second term in office.

West Bank

Meanwhile, Israel has ramped up its military operations in the occupied West Bank. Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a visit to the city of Jenin on Wednesday that Israel has “declared war on Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria”, referring to the West Bank.

“The Jenin refugee camp will not return to what it was,” he said. “After the operation is completed, the (Israel Defence Forces) will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return.”