The incoming US president’s envoy has reportedly convinced PM Netanyahu to accept a truce with Hamas
US President-elect Donald Trump’s team has played a deciding role in mediating a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing two Arab officials. Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has reportedly managed to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the truce’s terms in just one meeting.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that West Jerusalem and Hamas had reached an agreement securing the release of the remaining hostages. According to multiple media reports, the deal struck in Qatar involves a 42-day truce and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion.
Witkoff has been in Qatar’s capital, Doha, for the past week and has taken an active part in the hostage release talks, according to the Times of Israel. Last Saturday, he also flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu. It was during that meeting that he reportedly swayed the Israeli prime minister to accept the key provisions of the deal, two Arab sources told the news outlet.
Two days after the meeting, both sides told the mediators they have accepted the draft deal in principle, the sources added. Neither Witkoff, nor the Israeli prime minister’s office responded to the Times of Israel’s request for comment. The paper also stated that Trump’s envoy pick managed to achieve more “in a single sit-down” than President Joe Biden’s administration had in a year.
After the deal’s announcement, both Trump and Biden claimed credit for it. The president-elect called it an “epic ceasefire agreement that could only have happened” because of his election victory in November.
Biden called it a result of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” as well as pressure exerted on Hamas and the weakening of Iran. The outgoing president nonetheless credited the role played by his successor, saying that “for the past few days, we have been speaking as one team.”
Trump’s team responded on X (formerly, Twitter) by claiming that Biden could not have gotten the deal done without the intervention of Trump and Witkoff.
The US State Department also recognized Trump’s role in the development. “The involvement of President-elect Trump’s team has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line,” its spokesman, Matthew Miller, told journalists.
On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of “reneging” on key points of the deal, claiming the Palestinian group had created “a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement.” The militants denied the accusations, saying they were “committed” to the deal.
West Jerusalem intensified its airstrikes across Gaza shortly after the announcement of the truce deal. At least 32 people were killed in “heavy Israeli bombardment” on Wednesday evening, according to Reuters. On Thursday, the IDF accused Hamas of firing a rocket into the Jewish state, adding that the incident had caused no casualties.
