The call last week from Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy was reportedly blunt and short on diplomatic nicety.

Steven Witkoff is said to have told aides to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, that he was headed to Israel on Saturday afternoon.

When informed that would be in the middle of the sabbath, but the prime minister could meet in the evening, his reply was apparently “salty” and clear, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

The sabbath did not interest Mr Witkoff, the aides were told.

Mr Netanyahu duly went to his office to meet the US envoy who afterwards jetted back to Qatar to push further on a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza.

The exchange over the weekend illustrated how negotiations stretching more than a year on how to end the war have been shaken up by the impending Trump administration, Israeli sources said.

With Israel and Hamas said to be on the brink of agreeing a ceasefire deal after months of heavy diplomatic efforts, it may be Donald Trump’s election victory which provides the final impetus to get an agreement over the line.

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages, according to officials involved in the talks, although the last details were being finalised on Tuesday and the plan would still need to be submitted to the Israeli cabinet for final approval.

The enemies have been discussing how to end the Gaza war by swapping Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners for more than a year.