Donald Trump Hints At Israel-Gaza Ceasefire, 'We Have Some Good News...' Commends Steve Witkoff For 'Fantastic Job'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said on Wednesday that negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza were progressing well.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, during a bill signing event at the White House, Donald Trump told his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff,“We have some positive developments regarding Gaza and a few other high-level matters we're working on. You've done an excellent job.”

The war in Gaza started after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,219 people most of them civilians based on official data compiled by AFP.

In response, Israel's military offensive in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of 58,573 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave.

Also Read: Gaza horror: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to get food, water aid, says UN

On Wednesday, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed Israel's request to cancel arrest warrants for its prime minister and former defense minister, even as the court continues to review Israel's objections to its jurisdiction over actions in the Gaza conflict, Reuters reported.

The judges also turned down Israel's appeal to halt the broader ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, according to a ruling posted on the ICC's website.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called on more countries to accept and treat patients from the Gaza Strip after the medical evacuation of a group of mostly children to Jordan. "Today, WHO led the medical evacuation of 35 patients, mostly children, from Gaza to Jordan, accompanied by 72 family members," the UN health agency's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"We are grateful to the government of Jordan for its continued support and for providing specialised care to critically ill patients.

“More than 10,000 people in Gaza still need medical evacuation. We urge more countries to step forward to accept patients for medical evacuations -- lives depend on it. There are many more waiting.”

The WHO says that in Gaza, airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have "virtually depleted" the under-resourced health system, with many hospitals out of operation and others barely functioning.

Also Read: Iran's Khamenei calls Israel's Gaza aid policy 'a cheap form of genocide, calculated with Western precision.'

The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food since May. Of those, 674 were killed while en route to GHF food sites. The rest were reportedly killed while waiting for aid trucks entering Gaza, AP reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

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