'RELEASE THE HOSTAGES': Trump says Hamas surrender would end Gaza crisis as envoy Steve Witkoff meets Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (July 31) had a slight change in tone while addressing the Gaza humanitarian crisis, as he said that the fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to "surrender". This comes amid US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump took to Truth Social, posting that Hamas has to surrender and release the hostages to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!," the US president said in a Truth Social post.

Although Trump has been a vivid supporter of Netanyahu, earlier this week, he acknowledged that there is a "real starvation in Gaza", while the Israeli PM claims there is no starvation.

According to the World Health Organisation, there have been 63 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza in July, while 24 of them were children under the age of five.

Witkoff meets Netanyahu

Meanwhile, Witkoff is currently meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Netanyahu also shared a pair of pictures of the two speaking; however, the details have not been revealed yet.

Notably, this is Witkoff's first public visit to Israel since May, which comes amid the Gaza starvation crisis.

Moreover, an American doctor has invited Trump's Middle East envoy to visit the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, where he is currently working, to show them the starving children. “There are children who are starving. I’ve seen them with my own eyes,” Dr Thomas Adamkiewicz, a paediatrician, told the BBC. “This is barbaric. It’s a crime scene.”

US sanctions Palestinian Authority

The US State Department on Thursday said that it will impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and members of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as it accused them of undermining peace efforts.

It further prevents those targeted from receiving visas to travel to the United States, according to the statement. “It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,” the statement reads.