President Trump’s Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff, is preparing to meet with the Chief negotiator of Hamas very soon, two people familiar with Witkoff’s plans tell the New York Times.
One source reports that Witkoff also plans to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza.
Witkoff’s plans to meet with Khalil al-Hayya show that the envoy is not afraid that negotiations will validate the group the US has labeled as a foreign terrorist organization.
It also represents the White House’s interest in maintaining communications with Hamas.
It’s still unclear when Witkoff is expected to meet with Al-Hayya, according to two sources familiar with the envoy’s travel plans. The timing of the meeting could also still change.
This is not the first time that the pair has met. The first known time was in Egypt back in October right before a ceasefire deal was cemented.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was also at that meeting, helping to broker a deal.
That agreement was where both Hamas and Israel made their final hostage swap, releasing all 20 of the remaining living Israeli hostages for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
President Trump’s Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff, is preparing to meet with the Chief negotiator of Hamas very soon, two people familiar with Witkoff’s plans tell the New York Times
One source reports that Witkoff also plans to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was also at that meeting, helping to broker a deal
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, left, participates in a meeting Thursday, October 9, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, after a part of a ceasefire plan advanced by President Trump
The ceasefire agreement in October was when both Hamas and Israel made their final hostage swap, releasing all 20 of the remaining living Israeli hostages for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners
Witkoff, no stranger to loss, with his own son Andrew dying from an opioid overdose back in 2011, told CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ program host that he actually offered his condolences to the Hamas captain when he lost his son.
This happened back in September when the Israeli Air Force fired at a base in Qatar where Hamas officials met.
A representative for Witkoff declined to discuss whether there’s plans for a meeting with the Hamas leader.
