By Zein Khalil and Mohammad Sio
JERUSALEM (AA) - US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East plans to visit Israel and Qatar this week, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday.
Steve Witkoff plans to make the trip before US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Israel on Saturday evening, it said.
The Jerusalem Post daily cited an unnamed source confirming Witkoff’s visit to Israel in the coming days but provided no further details.
There has been no official comment from Israel or Qatar regarding the visit.
Witkoff previously met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to Israel on Jan. 29.
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported at the time that Witkoff delivered messages from Trump urging Israel to begin negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
On Jan. 11, Witkoff reportedly pressured Netanyahu during a meeting in Tel Aviv to sign a deal with Hamas that included a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange.
However, implementation of the agreement has faced setbacks due to Israel’s delay in fulfilling its commitments and initiating the second-phase talks.
In response, Hamas announced Monday that it would withhold the next batch of prisoners scheduled for release on Saturday unless Israel complied with the agreement.
On Monday, Trump warned that he would cancel the ceasefire agreement and “let hell break out” if all Israeli captives in Gaza were not released by 12 p.m. on Saturday.
Netanyahu issued a warning to Hamas following a four-hour security Cabinet meeting Tuesday announcing that he had ordered the military to mobilize forces in and around Gaza.
“This deployment is happening as we speak and will be completed as soon as possible,” he said in a televised statement.
He vowed that if Hamas did not release the captives by noon Saturday, “the ceasefire will end and the Israeli military will resume fighting at full force.”
While Netanyahu did not specify the number of hostages he expected Hamas to release, Israeli Army Radio, citing unnamed officials, reported Tuesday that if Hamas freed three captives on Saturday, the first phase of the agreement would proceed.
On Monday, Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that the release of Israeli hostages scheduled for Saturday had been postponed indefinitely, citing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The three-phase ceasefire deal has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 48,200 people and left the enclave in ruins.
In phase one of the truce, which runs until early March, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners. The sixth Israeli-Hamas swap was scheduled for this week.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for 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.