On Saturday, August 2nd, U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff met the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to the main association representing those still in captivity. The visit came one day after Witkoff visited a U.S.–backed aid station in Gaza, to inspect efforts to deliver food into the devastated Palestinian territory.
After the meeting, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement saying that Witkoff had given it a personal commitment that he and President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages.
The U.S., along with Egypt and Qatar, has been mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that would allow the hostages to be released and humanitarian aid to flow more freely.
But the talks broke down last month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is under increasing domestic pressure to come up with another way to secure the missing hostages, both living and deceased.
He is also facing international calls to open Gaza’s borders to more food aid.
Meanwhile, the U.S- .and Israel-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation delivers more than one million meals a day.
Lukács Fux is currently a law student at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest. He served as an intern during the Hungarian Council Presidency and completed a separate internship in the European Parliament.
