JERUSALEM, Israel – President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel Thursday as more countries are jumping on the bandwagon to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not quickly end the war in Gaza.
Witkoff is expected to focus on humanitarian aid and brokering a clear path to a ceasefire. He arrived in Israel as the Gaza conflict reaches a fever pitch.
This week, a wave of countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state if the war doesn’t end soon.
Canada followed France and the U.K. in the statehood decision. Germany is taking a wait-and-see approach.
West Bank Palestinian resident Suha Othman said, “Regarding Canada’s recognition, for me, this is an achievement for us because all the countries have started; France was the first, then Canada, and Spain. It’s clear that we have reached a broader understanding of the Palestinian cause.”
Israel doesn’t see it that way, and the Netanyahu government has sharply criticized the European states and Canada for granting rewards to Hamas for the October 7th, 2023, terror attacks.
Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and is touring Gaza with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Friday to inspect the distribution of aid.
Delivering more food to Gazans is their first order of business. President Trump told NBC News that “good management” will prevent the theft of aid by Hamas and its supporters.
Israel faces mounting pressure internationally from claims of deliberate starvation.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter angrily rejected the charge. “I mean, for crying out loud,” he exclaimed, “You want to blame us for conducting a war while we are providing as much humanitarian aid as possible?”
Leiter added, “Hamas is using this propaganda to score points with the international community, and, like a social contagion, everybody is picking this up.”
Case in point: The New York Times admitting they knew the photo of an emaciated child in their front page article on Gaza starvation last Friday wasn’t relevant because he had a pre-existing medical condition, but ran the story anyway.
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Trump posted, “The fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.”
Relatives of Israeli hostages, 50 of whom are still in captivity, took to the streets of Jerusalem on Thursday. They’re depending on Trump, Witkoff, and Netanyahu to make something happen.
Dalia Cusnihorn, the sister-in-law of one Israeli hostage, told CBN News, “This is the most Jewish thing to do. This is the most Christian thing to do. This is the only correct thing to do. Finish the war and bring back the 50 hostages.”
The demonstrators have been staunchly opposed to the way Netanyahu has handled the war in Gaza, but now that more countries are joining the U.K., France, and others in recognizing a Palestinian state, it’s forcing them to rethink their position, understanding that it creates a slippery and dangerous slope.
Shay Dickman, the cousin of a murdered Israeli hostage, told us, “This is my fear – that this is rewarding them (the Palestinians) while there are still hostages.”
As for statehood, Mosab Hassan Yousef, an outspoken Hamas critic and the son of one of its co-founders, summed it up by saying, “October 7th didn’t happen because Palestinians were denied a state; it happened because they were given a state.”
Cusnihorn reflected, “When you’re declaring a Palestinian state while there are still hostages in Gaza, you are saying to all the terror organizations in the world, ‘Do you want to have an independent state? Go ahead. Enter to a sovereign country. Abduct, kill, slaughter people, burn babies, rape women – and then the entire world will be with you and will declare your new nation.’ Is this the world we want to live in?”
