Report: Witkoff stepping back from US administration after Gaza deal

Tehran - BORNA - US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to step back from the Trump administration to refocus on his business after serving as a key negotiator who sealed the Gaza ceasefire, two sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.

Both sources, who requested anonymity to reveal private discussions, said Witkoff planned to leave the administration to refocus on his business after a "gruelling" schedule of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East.

Witkoff’s pull-back could open questions over how engaged the US will remain in the subsequent phases of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which has vague calls for everything from the reconstruction of Gaza and the appointment of a Palestinian technocratic government.

Trump says he will chair a so-called "board of peace" to oversee Gaza. But US and Arab diplomats have questioned how active Trump will be, particularly on holding Israel to the terms of the ceasefire after the victory lap of his peace summit in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. 

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