Trump’s Middle East envoy to meet with Netanyahu on Saturday amid pressure for a ceasefire By Reuters

By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday after his visit to Doha, an Israeli official said, amid efforts of finding a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

A second Israeli official said some progress had been made in indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach an agreement in Gaza.

Mediators are making new efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in the region and to release the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Trump took office on January 20.

Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to a statement issued by Qatar’s foreign ministry.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators received an assurance from Witkoff that the US will continue to work towards ending the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, although he did not provide any details.

On Saturday, the Palestinian public emergency service said that eight people were killed, including two women and two children, in an Israeli airstrike on a former home defense school. who fled the countryside of Jabalia, in the northern part of Gaza.

The Israeli army said that the strike was aimed at Hamas fighters who were working at the school and that they had taken measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.

Later on Saturday, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said that five people were killed and several others wounded in two Israeli attacks. One of the two attacks killed three people in a house near Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. they have fled their homes.