Last week, he announced plans to step up the operation in Gaza, which officials said could be seized entirely by Israeli forces, but said they would not start until Trump wraps up his visit.
Following a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza for two months and allowed the exchange of 38 hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, Israel resumed its operation in the enclave in March.
Since then, it has extended its control of the territory, clearing around a third of what it has described as a “security zone” and blocked off the entry of aid into Gaza, leaving the 2 million population increasingly short of food.
The newly appointed US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, last week outlined plans for a new system of aid deliveries by private contractors that would not be run by Israel, but many details remain unclear, including who would provide funding.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins some 19 months after Israeli forces invaded the territory in retaliation for the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed and virtually the entire population has been forced to move multiple times as the fighting and bombardment have continued around it, destroying large swathes of the enclave.
