US to host Qatari, Turkish and Egyptian officials for Gaza ceasefire talks
By Al Jazeera, December 19, 2025The United States Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will hold talks in Miami, Florida, with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye as efforts continue to advance the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, even as Israel repeatedly violates the truce on the ground.
A White House official told Al Jazeera Arabic on Friday, December 19, 2025, that Witkoff is set to meet representatives from the three countries to discuss the future of the agreement aimed at halting Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Axios separately reported that the meeting, scheduled for later on Friday, will include Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
At the same time, Israel’s public broadcaster, quoting an Israeli official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a restricted security consultation to examine the second phase of the ceasefire and potential scenarios.
That official warned that Israel could launch a new military campaign to disarm Hamas if US President Donald Trump were to disengage from the Gaza process, while acknowledging that such a move was unlikely because Trump wants to preserve calm in the enclave.
Despite Washington’s insistence that the ceasefire remains intact, Israeli attacks have continued almost uninterrupted, as it continues to renege on the terms of the first phase and blocks the free flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces carried out air attacks, artillery shelling and heavy gunfire across eastern Khan Younis, escalating violations of the Gaza ceasefire, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported from on the ground.
Israeli attacks hit areas under Israeli control in the southern Gaza city, while shelling also struck Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, inside the so-called “yellow line” – territory Israel was required to withdraw from under the ceasefire.
Al-Aqsa TV reported that Israeli artillery fire in eastern Khan Younis killed at least three Palestinians, including a woman. The channel said Israeli naval vessels also opened fire on fishing boats off the city’s coast.
Elsewhere, Israeli warplanes bombed Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and carried out another strike in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood, where plumes of smoke rose over the targeted area.