US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy traveled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on January 20, a source said, amid indications that Doha was resuming its role as a mediator in the talks.
Steve Witkoff, the incoming envoy, met separately in late November with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source said.
The meetings signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed its role as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source said.
The Gulf country had worked alongside the US and Egypt for months on fruitless indirect talks that have not achieved a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza or the release of over 100 hostages held in the enclave. War was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists swarmed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 251.
The source added that Hamas negotiators would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha to facilitate a fresh round of talks.
“There are plans for a subsequent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to take place potentially in Doha soon, but no specific date has been set,” the source said.
Qatar had been a key mediator of the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas until it announced last month it was suspending its role until they the two parties show “willingness and seriousness” to resume talks.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry in Doha claimed the pause was still in place. The announcement appeared to contradict remarks made last week by US President Joe Biden who said Qatar along with Egypt and Turkey would be launching a new push for a hostage deal.
The Haaretz daily cited a source close to the talks confirming that Doha had resumed its role as a mediator.
Al Thani confirmed to Sky News Wednesday that a Trump official had told him the incoming president wanted to get a deal done by January 20.
“We had heard this from his team… that they want this (hostage deal) to be resolved now — today, even,” Al Thani said.
Trump said on Monday there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held in the Gaza Strip were not released prior to his inauguration. On Wednesday, he named Adam Boehler, a lead negotiators of the Abraham, as his pick for special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
Witkoff, a real estate investor and Trump campaign donor with business ties to Qatar and other Gulf states, but no prior diplomatic experience, met Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, in Doha on November 22.
“Both agreed a Gaza ceasefire is needed before Trump’s inauguration so that once the Trump administration takes office it can move onto other issues, like stabilizing Gaza and the region,” said the source, who had been briefed on meetings between Witkoff, Qatar and Israel and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The comment dovetailed closely with the Qatari premier’s remarks to Sky News.
Qatar’s foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters’ request for confirmation or comment.
Witkoff met Netanyahu in Israel the next day. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Witkoff also met families of Israeli hostages, an Israeli official told Reuters.
He “spoke with them about Team Trump’s efforts to try and broker the deal before inauguration,” the official said.
A day later, al-Thani traveled to Vienna to meet Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea, who has led Israel’s talks for a hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire over the last 14 months.
A US official confirmed that Trump’s team has been in touch with Middle East officials.
“They are supportive of a Gaza ceasefire deal,” the official told Reuters.
Trump’s transition team and representatives for Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to questions on whether they were aware of Witkoff’s trips in recent weeks to Qatar and Israel.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 news, an Israeli delegation is set to travel to Cairo early next week to discuss a new proposal put together by Egypt.
The proposal envisions a staged release of hostages alongside an initial temporary ceasefire of 45 to 60 days.
It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.