Trump envoy already working with Israel, Qatar to secure hostages’ release

Steven Witkoff met with Qatari and Israeli prime ministers; U.S. official says he is learning the hostage issue, not negotiating.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

President-elect Donald Trump’s new special envoy to the Middle East has already begun to work even though his job only officially begins on January 20, inauguration day, Reuters reported Wednesday night.

Steven Witkoff went to Doha and Jerusalem two weeks ago, and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the news agency said, citing an informed source.

The source said that this is a sign that the Gulf country is back in its mediation role on the hostage issue, after having stepped away earlier in November, saying that “the necessary seriousness” was missing from both Israel and Hamas to get a deal done.

After Witkoff’s discussions with Al Thani, “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,” the source told Reuters.

“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 added.

The day after meeting Witkoff, Al-Thani flew to Vienna to speak with Mossad head David Barnea.

Barnea has been heavily involved in the hostages-for-ceasefire negotiations since they began just weeks into the Israel-Hamas war, sparked last October 7 when the terrorist organization invaded Israel, massacred 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, 96 of whom are still in captivity.

Another four, two dead soldiers from 2014’s Operation Protective Shield, and two civilians who wandered into the Strip in 2014 and 2015 and are thought to possibly be alive, are also in Hamas hands, with their return sought as well.

An American official said that the Biden administration knows of Witkoff’s meetings and understands that he supports the same kind of agreement that the White House has been pushing for months.

The outgoing administration officials involved in the hostage issue have kept the incoming team apprised of what, if anything, is happening, but they are not working directly together, the official noted.

Coordination is not necessary because the White House understands Witkoff’s efforts as learning the details of the issue rather than any attempt at negotiating, the official said.

Trump just announced on Wednesday that he would have a special envoy specifically for hostage affairs, Abraham Accords negotiator Adam Boehler.

An Israeli official told Reuters that Witkoff had also met with families of the hostages when he was in the country.

He “spoke with them about Team Trump’s efforts to try and broker the deal before inauguration,” the official said.

Trump has spoken very forcefully about the need to release the hostages, even threatening that there would be “hell to pay” if by January 20 Hamas hasn’t freed the hostages, barely two thirds of them still thought to be alive.

Biden Administrationhamas hostageshostage negotiationsQatarSteven Witkoff