The visit of President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Gaza marks a new phase in the war—a stage of Trump's personal involvement, through Witkoff, in ending the conflict by personally addressing the hunger crisis.

From this involvement, a new trend may develop that President Trump has hinted at in the past with his typical language—that Gaza would come under United States responsibility. Perhaps not as a riviera, but as some form of protectorate, where the question of Gazans' personal distress could be resolved by opening a port for Gaza, allowing those who wish to find new lives overseas, without the transfer plans of the Israeli nhardliners.

The first signal of Trump's personal involvement in this trend was the hurried airdrop of food to Gazans, following a phone call from Trump to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu promised Trump that under cover of the Knesset recess, he would end the war, but strangely, Trump doesn't quite trust Netanyahu's promises, and he's taking matters into his own hands.

Competing Humanitarian Approaches

Attention should be paid to two statements issued after Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee's visit regarding talks with the "American" company GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation). Witkoff announced he would report to President Trump about the company's work and "other (aid) organizations," while Huckabee praised only GHF's work.

This means Witkoff will examine other options for food distribution, while Huckabee, who according to Israeli sources was among the pillars, along with Smotrich, in establishing GHF, must therefore defend his support for the initiative.

The very position Huckabee published indicates distress and question marks in the administration regarding the initiative.

What could be Witkoff's other options? UN organizations, but not UNRWA. Already now, the agency transferring aid to the northern Strip through the Zikim crossing is the World Food Programme (WFP). Incidentally, opening the Zikim crossing for aid to the northern Strip pulls the rug out from under Smotrich's feet in pushing Gazans from north to south to clear the area for settlements.

The UNRWA Question

Why not UNRWA? Because the UN Relief and Works Agency marks the reversal of trends in the Middle East, in Gaza and Lebanon, and differently in the West Bank and Syria. The trend is ending the chapter of refugeehood in Palestinian history and eliminating refugee camps.

In the northern camps, in the confrontation between the IDF and pro-Iranian forces, the IDF is erasing the camps. In Lebanon, Abu Mazen committed to President Aoun to assist government efforts to disarm the camps, and in Syria, Jolani refuses to rehabilitate the refugee camps that Assad destroyed.

If so, giving UNRWA a role would mark a reversal of this trend, especially since among Western demands from Abu Mazen to recognize a Palestinian state is the requirement to reform the Palestinian curriculum, which is a program of hatred toward Israel and implementing the right of return—this is UNRWA's curriculum in Gaza.

International Recognition Dynamics

The emerging wave of Western recognition of a Palestinian state is not related to Palestinians, but to the "success" of the far-right government in making Israel hated worldwide.

A prominent event in this direction was the Palestinian state recognition conference in New York led by France and Saudi Arabia. Note that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa sat on the guest panel, not at the head table like the initiators. In other words: the countries seeking to find a solution to the Gaza problem in the context of a Palestinian state are not allowing the Palestinian Authority to take a leading role.

So who is leading? Saudi Arabia and France in the context of the New York conference. The two are also leading the arrangements in Lebanon for disarming Hezbollah and in the context of Gaza, the conference called for disarming Hamas and removing it as a governing body in Gaza.

Egypt's Position and Training Initiative

Egypt is not participating in leading the Saudi-French initiative because it has not accepted Saudi Arabia's position of disarming Hamas, but participated on equal footing with the Palestinian Authority as a "regular" participant, not a leader. Meanwhile, there are reports that Egypt is training Palestinians who will be a security force to enter the Strip to enforce the day-after arrangements.

Connecting the French-Saudi initiatives on one hand and Egypt's initiative on the other requires opening the Rafah crossing, which is a difficult matter for Netanyahu because it's "the rock of our existence" and "absolute victory," and therefore Trump will be forced to make a personal decision here and impose it on Netanyahu.

The Rafah Strategy

When examining the logic of placing GHF food distribution stations specifically in Rafah, this immediately connects to the "humanitarian city" in reverse, designed to push Gazans into Sinai—in other words: transfer—Smotrich's decisive plan for the West Bank—a tool trial in Gaza.

To implement Smotrich's decisive plan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE must be blocked from entering Rafah through the Rafah crossing. If Netanyahu cannot do this—Trump will. The Knesset recess will give Netanyahu an iron dome against his government's fall, which is what he asked from Trump.

Qatar vs. Egypt Competition

Opening the Rafah crossing also relates to the struggle between Egypt and Qatar over Gaza's future. As recalled, among the various suspicions of "Qatargate" was the suspicion of fueling conflict between Israel and Egypt to leave Qatar alone in Gaza. Israel's takeover of the Rafah space was intended for this—to block Egypt and the Abraham Alliance in favor of Qatar's interests.

To this aspect of Qatar versus Egypt, a new dimension has now been added, as the Muslim Brotherhood organizes demonstrations worldwide, including in Tel Aviv, outside Egyptian embassies, against Egypt's participation in starving Gaza. Those following the Muslim Brotherhood channel, Al-Jazeera, notice the channel's incitement line against Arab regimes for their alleged participation in starving Gaza. This recalls the incitement during the Arab Spring that shook the Arab world, which requires Arab regimes to put an end to the war in Gaza and the horror images that the war provides to Al-Jazeera.