MOSCOW (Sputnik) – US Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield, appointed three month ago, will leave his post in the coming weeks, the Huffington Post newspaper reported on Saturday, citing a source familiar with his plans and a US official.
Satterfield was appointed a special envoy on October 15, 2023. He was expected to “lead U.S. diplomacy to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the US State Department said in a statement on Satterfield’s appointment.
The newspaper did not provide information on the reasons for Satterfield’s possible resignation, but added that Satterfield three-month tenure was widely criticized. The diplomat had reportedly suggested moving residents of the Gaza Strip to Egypt, an idea that was meet with huge opposition and later publicly disavowed by US authorities. Moreover, the humanitarian situation for Gaza residents have deteriorated during Satterfield’s time in office.
Prior to the appointment as a special envoy he worked as the Baker Institute’s director at Rice University. Before that, Satterfield served as US envoy for the Horn of Africa from January –June 2022 and US Ambassador to Turkey in 2019-2022.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 23,000 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.
