Gaza latest: Trump special envoy set to visit Israel as Qatar and Saudis urge Hamas to disband

The demand by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt that the terrorists in control of Gaza put down their arms and leave is a strong diplomatic move – but where are they supposed to go? History suggests that expelling terrorists rarely ends well, says Mark Almond:

In an unprecedented move, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have for the first time urged Hamas to disband to pave the way for a Palestinian state.

They signed a statement condemning the October 7 attacks and told Hamas to surrender control, along with 14 other countries, including Britain and France.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss the next steps to address the situation in Gaza, a US official has confirmed.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects food centres to be set up in order to feed more people in Gaza, where starvation has begun to take hold.

The US official told Reuters that Witkoff will meet with officials “to discuss next steps in addressing the situation in Gaza.”

When I asked my sister in Gaza what she thought of Keir Starmer’s announcement, she laughed – because it means we only gain statehood if we continue to be killed, says Ahmed Najar:

Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a furious response after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to recognise Palestine unless Israel takes urgent steps to end the war in Gaza, accusing the prime minister of “appeasing terrorists”.

Responding on social media, the Israeli prime minister said: “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims.”

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff travelling for talks to Israel today “may also travel to Gaza”, the White House confirmed to The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg.

Witkoff is expected to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

It will be his first trip to Israel in almost three months.

“The president wants to know more about what the humanitarian situation in Gaza is in order to know how to get more assistance to civilians in Gaza,” one US official told Axios.

Israel could threaten to annex parts of Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, an Israeli minister said on Wednesday, an idea that would deal a blow to Palestinian hopes of statehood on land Israel now occupies.

Accusing Hamas of trying to drag out ceasefire talks to gain Israeli concessions, security cabinet member Zeev Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that Israel may give the group an ultimatum to reach a deal before further expanding its military actions.

“The most painful thing for our enemy is losing lands,” he said.

“A clarification to Hamas that the moment they play games with us they will lose land that they will never get back would be a significant pressure tool.”

In the decades since the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the UK has broadly supported official recognition of a state of Palestine.

So why has it taken more than a century for a government to sign up to it, asks Donald Macintyre: