Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, in his office on Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced.
Witkoff was set to discuss the next phase of the hostage exchange deal with Netanyahu, which will include the release of all the remaining 64 hostages from Hamas captivity, some of whom are confirmed to be dead, according to reports on Tuesday.
It was announced on Wednesday that Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, and Gadi Moses are to be released from Gaza on Thursday.
The timing of announcing the identities of the three hostages slated to be released coinciding with Netanyahu hosting Witkoff corroborates this previous report.
Witkoff, accompanied by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, visited the Netzarim Corridor earlier on Wednesday.
Normalization efforts might be affected
While unconfirmed, it was believed that another issue that will probably be raised in the meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu is Trump’s recent statements regarding a proposal to move Gazans to Egypt and Jordan.
Three sources told the Jerusalem Post that Egypt and Jordan conveyed a message to people close to Trump that if he presses on with his plan, it might hurt normalization efforts. The sources added that they feared the move might impact the stability of the two countries.
Egypt and Jordan have already opposed the idea publicly, but the new warning by other Arab countries is likely to influence the chance of it gaining any traction.
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