TEL AVIV: US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives’ survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, before going into a closed meeting with the families.

Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to salvage ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Gaza to see aid operations for himself and speak to Palestinians as international pressure mounts over humanitarian crisis.