Real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man in the Middle East

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (L) and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speak to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House on February 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. (AFP)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (L) and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speak to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House on February 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. (AFP)
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Updated 09 February 2025
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Real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man in the Middle East

Real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man in the Middle East
  • Though a complete neophyte in the world of diplomacy, Witkoff was named as special envoy to the Middle East only a week after Trump’s election, a reflection of the two men’s close relationship
  • “And this guy knows real estate,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, appearing alongside the special envoy, said with a smile

WASHINGTON: He has no foreign policy experience but sports a reputation as a talented negotiator unafraid to speak his mind. And Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has already made his mark.
A close friend to the US president, 67-year-old real estate magnate Witkoff is credited with playing a key role in negotiating the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas armed group.
The truce took effect January 19, on the eve of Trump’s inauguration for a second term in the White House.
This week, Witkoff found himself in the spotlight, defending the US president’s stunning suggestion that he wanted to “take over” the Gaza Strip and move its two million Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere.
“When the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable, and this is a long-range plan,” Witkoff told reporters at the White House just ahead of a joint news conference by Trump and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“And this guy knows real estate,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, appearing alongside the special envoy, said with a smile.
Speaking later that day on Fox News, Witkoff continued laying out the administration’s justification for the notion of a large-scale relocation of Palestinians from Gaza — even as the idea drew fire in the region, with some calling it tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
“A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today,” he said, seeming to gloss over the complexities of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trump had nothing but praise for Witkoff at the White House news conference.
“Steve, stand up, Steve, please. What a job you’ve done. Quite a good job. You’ve done a fantastic job,” he said.
It was Witkoff, a billionaire like his friend and a regular golfing partner of his, who was called on to introduce the new president at a celebratory gathering at a Washington arena following his January 20 inauguration.

Though a complete neophyte in the world of diplomacy, Witkoff was named as special envoy to the Middle East only a week after Trump’s election, a reflection of the two men’s close relationship.
Eight years earlier, after Trump was elected for his first term, he named another diplomatic novice — his son-in-law Jared Kushner — to the same position.
Even before Trump took office, Witkoff joined in the Gaza ceasefire talks, taking part in a final round of negotiations in early January alongside Brett McGurk, the Middle East adviser to then-president Joe Biden.
It was a rare collaboration between an outgoing and incoming US administration.
After attending the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, Witkoff flew to Israel on a Saturday — interrupting Netanyahu on the Jewish Sabbath — in an urgent bid to finalize an agreement.
Then on January 29, Witkoff traveled to Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble after 15 months of an Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
He was the first US official to visit the territory since the war began.
In an article published Thursday by Foreign Policy journal, Steven Cook, an expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Witkoff’s lack of diplomatic experience could be an advantage, giving him a fresh perspective.
Still, he added: “The Israel-Palestine conflict is not a real estate deal.”
Born on March 15, 1957, in the New York borough of the Bronx, Witkoff made his fortune in real estate, first as a corporate lawyer and then at the head of big realty firms.
In 1997, he founded the Witkoff Group, which describes itself as “one part developer, one part investor (and) one part landscape-changer.” His wife and a son work there.
A graduate of Hofstra University near New York, Witkoff has several children, including one who died in 2011, aged 22, from an OxyContin overdose.
 

 


First Jordanian flight lands in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after relaunch

First Jordanian flight lands in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after relaunch
Updated 14 sec ago
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First Jordanian flight lands in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after relaunch

First Jordanian flight lands in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport after relaunch
  • Maintenance and restoration work allows air traffic to and from Aleppo to resume
  • Jordanian delegation on flight aims to enhance cooperation between Syria and Jordan

LONDON: The first Jordanian flight landed at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria on Sunday after the airport’s relaunch last week.

The Jordanian flight carried an official delegation whose aim is to enhance cooperation between Syria and Jordan, reaffirming the revival of civilian activity at the airport, the SANA agency reported.

Last week, Aleppo airport reopened for flights after nearly three months of closure caused by the offensive by rebel groups against Bashar Assad’s regime in early December. Aleppo is the country’s second-largest city after the capital and an important industrial and trade center.

Maintenance and restoration work by Syrian authorities allowed air traffic to and from Aleppo to resume. Authorities announced that Aleppo will begin receiving international flights, facilitating the return of nearly 10 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey and Europe. It will also enable local and foreign investors to visit the city, SANA added.

In January, international flights to and from Damascus resumed for the first time since the fall of Assad with a direct flight from Doha — the first in 13 years.


UAE, Egyptian presidents discuss strengthening fraternal ties

UAE, Egyptian presidents discuss strengthening fraternal ties
Updated 53 min 41 sec ago
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UAE, Egyptian presidents discuss strengthening fraternal ties

UAE, Egyptian presidents discuss strengthening fraternal ties
  • El-Sisi hosts Cairo iftar banquet in honor of Sheikh Mohamed

LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, discussed regional development and brotherly ties with the president of Egypt, Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, in Cairo.

The two leaders met on Saturday to discuss their countries’ relations and ways to enhance cooperation in the development, economic, and investment sectors to serve mutual interests, the Emirates News Agency reported.

They confirmed their commitment to enhancing the strong relationship between Abu Dhabi and Cairo while promoting collaboration in all areas.

El-Sisi hosted an iftar banquet in honor of Sheikh Mohamed and the accompanying UAE delegation, composed of senior Emirati officials, the agency added.

Sheikh Mohamed left Egypt on Saturday evening from Cairo International Airport, where the Egyptian president and several senior officials bid him farewell.


Palestinians denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements

Palestinians denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements
Updated 23 March 2025
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Palestinians denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements

Palestinians denounce Israeli recognition of new West Bank settlements

JERUSALEM: The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned on Sunday an Israeli decision to recognize more than a dozen new settlements in the occupied West Bank, upgrading existing neighborhoods to independent settlement status.
The decision by Israel’s security cabinet was a show of “disregard for international legitimacy and its resolutions,” said a statement from the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader and settler who was behind the cabinet’s decision, hailed it as an “important step” for Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Smotrich is a leading voice calling for Israel to formally annex the West Bank — as it did in 1967 after capturing east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
“The recognition of each (neighborhood) as a separate community... is an important step that would help their development,” Smotrich said in a statement on Telegram, calling it part of a “revolution.”
“Instead of hiding and apologizing, we raise the flag, we build and we settle,” he said.
“This is another important step toward de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” added Smotrich, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.
In its statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry also mentioned an ongoing major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, saying it was accompanied by “an unprecedented escalation in the confiscation of Palestinian lands.”
The 13 settlement neighborhoods approved for development by the Israeli cabinet are located across the West Bank. Some of them are effectively part of the bigger settlements they belong to while others are practically separate.
Their recognition as separate communities under Israeli law is not yet final.
Hailing the “normalization” of settlement expansion, the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for the municipal councils of West Bank settlements, thanked Smotrich for pushing for the cabinet decision.
According to EU figures, 2023 saw a 30-year record in settlement building permits issued by Israel.


Lebanon says one dead as Israel resumes strike on south

Lebanon says one dead as Israel resumes strike on south
Updated 23 March 2025
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Lebanon says one dead as Israel resumes strike on south

Lebanon says one dead as Israel resumes strike on south
  • The NNA also reported separate Israeli strikes on Sunday on Naqurah, Shihin and Labbouneh in the south

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed Sunday in an Israeli drone strike, a day after the most intense escalation since a November ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.
“The Israeli enemy raid with a drone on a car in Aita Al-Shaab led to the death of one citizen,” the health ministry said, after the official National News Agency (NNA) had reported the strike on the southern village.
The NNA also reported separate Israeli strikes on Sunday on Naqurah, Shihin and Labbouneh in the south, near the Israeli border.
Saturday saw the most intense escalation since a November ceasefire halted the war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The Lebanese health ministry said seven people were killed on Saturday, including in an attack on Tyre which a security source told AFP targeted a Hezbollah official.
Israel said the strikes were “a response to rocket fire toward Israel and a continuation of the first series of strikes carried out” in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket attack, and called Israel’s accusations “pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon.”
The November ceasefire brought relative calm after a year of hostilities, including two months of open war, between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel has continued to strike Lebanon after the ceasefire, targeting what it said were Hezbollah military sites that violated the agreement.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah is supposed to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel is supposed to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but has missed two deadlines to do so and continues to hold five positions it deems “strategic.”


Paramilitary shelling kills 3 in Omdurman after Sudan army gains

Paramilitary shelling kills 3 in Omdurman after Sudan army gains
Updated 23 March 2025
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Paramilitary shelling kills 3 in Omdurman after Sudan army gains

Paramilitary shelling kills 3 in Omdurman after Sudan army gains
  • Eyewitnesses in the area reported seven rounds of shelling rocking residential neighborhoods controlled by the army
  • In recent days, the army regained most of central Khartoum’s government district from the RSF

KHARTOUM: Three civilians including two children were killed Sunday in an artillery attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Omdurman, part of the Sudanese capital, a medical source told AFP.
Eyewitnesses in the area reported seven rounds of shelling rocking residential neighborhoods controlled by the army, which in recent days regained most of central Khartoum’s government district from the RSF.
“Two children and a woman were killed and eight others injured in the shelling,” said the medical source at Al-Nao hospital, one of the city’s last functioning health facilities, requesting anonymity for their safety.
Since April 2023, the RSF has battled Sudan’s regular army in a war that has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
The army and allied groups on Friday recaptured the country’s presidential palace, launching a clearing operation to push the RSF out of central Khartoum’s administrative and financial district.
On Saturday, they claimed several strategic state institutions that had been overrun by paramilitaries, including the central bank, state intelligence headquarters and the national museum.
RSF fighters remain stationed in parts of central Khartoum including the airport, as well as the capital’s south and west.
From their positions in western Omdurman, they have regularly launched strikes on civilian areas.
In February, over 50 people were killed in a single RSF artillery attack on a busy Omdurman market.
Despite the army’s advances in the capital, Africa’s third largest country remains effectively split in two, with the army holding the east and north while the RSF controls nearly all of the western region of Darfur and parts of the south.