Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has already held talks with senior Israeli and Qatari officials, hoping to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages before the former US president returns to the White House.
Steven Witkoff, the New York real estate investor Trump has tapped as his envoy for the region, last month held talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who has been a mediator in talks between Hamas and Israel, two people familiar with the talks said.
A day later on November 23, he flew to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a diplomat briefed on the discussions said. An Israeli official and a former Trump administration official also confirmed the meeting. Mossad chief David Barnea, Israel’s main negotiator, then met the Qatari prime minister in Vienna on November 24, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The talks, which took place within weeks of the US election, underscore the fresh urgency Trump’s victory has injected into previously stalled negotiations.
The president-elect has demanded the hostages be released by his inauguration on January 20, posting on his network Truth Social on Monday that “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if they are not. Around 100 are being held by Hamas in Gaza, of whom over a third are believed to be dead.
Were the negotiations to succeed by Trump’s inauguration, they would echo the historic release of hundreds of US diplomatic staff held hostage by Iran on the day of Ronald Reagan’s 1981 swearing-in, and eclipse the months of efforts by outgoing President Joe Biden’s team to facilitate the Israeli hostage-for-Palestinian prisoner swaps.
During the flurry of talks, Witkoff discussed the mediation efforts to end the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas and to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in the besieged strip.
One diplomat briefed on the talks said Witkoff was pushing for a ceasefire “before Trump’s inauguration so that once the Trump administration takes office it can move on to other issues, like stabilising the region after a year filled with war and instability”.
Witkoff’s shuttle diplomacy also highlights how Trump, who has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, is already influencing the situation in the region more than a month before he takes office. Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein communicated with Trump’s team, including Witkoff, as he brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant movement.
The conflict in Gaza started after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the militant group killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, according to officials. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave say.
Talks to end the war in Gaza have been stalled for months, with Hamas insisting any agreement has to conclude with a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the strip.
Those conditions remain unacceptable to Netanyahu and his far-right coalition. Members of his cabinet have threatened to collapse the government if Netanyahu agrees to end the war before achieving “total victory” against Hamas.
In a minor concession, Israel has offered a 60-day ceasefire, and softened its objection to releasing at least some Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis or serving life sentences in military prisons, according to two people familiar with the offer made by Israel to Egypt, which is also mediating the talks.
In a prior round of swaps in November 2023, Israel released hundreds of Palestinians for dozens of hostages.
Qatar, which had hosted Hamas’s political office, has been the main facilitator with the Palestinian militant group, along with Egypt.
While Qatar suspended its role as mediator in October in frustration at the lack of compromise by the warring parties — with some senior Hamas officials subsequently moving to Turkey — the diplomat said the next round of talks are again expected to be held in the country.
