Witkoff claims Trump’s Gaza plan was misunderstood, is about better prospects, not eviction; ‘hard to square the circle’ on phase two

The United States envoy to the Middle East says that President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza is not about evicting Palestinians, claiming that his repeated remarks have been misrepresented.

Steve Witkoff tells the FII Institute conference in Miami that the conversation about Gaza’s future is being shifted toward how to create a better future for Palestinians.

“When the president talks about this, it means he wants to shake up everyone’s thinking, and think about what is compelling and what is the best solution for the Palestinian people,” Witkoff says.

“For instance, do they want to live in a home there, or would they rather have an opportunity to resettle in some sort of better place, to have jobs, upside and financial prospects,” he adds.

Witkoff also addresses the ongoing ceasefire-hostage deal: “I think phase two is more difficult,” he says. “But I think ultimately, if we work hard, that there’s a real chance of success… Everybody is buying into this notion that releasing hostages is just a good thing. It just is something that’s important and ought to happen.

“The issue with phase two,” he goes on, “is that there’s supposed to be an end to the war as part of phase two. And I think the Israelis have a redline, which is you can’t have Hamas in the government [of Gaza]. And so it’s hard to sort of square that circle.”