US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy has met the prime ministers of Qatar and Israel to kick-start Trump’s diplomatic push to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Wednesday.
Steve Witkoff, the incoming envoy, traveled to Qatar and Israel in late November, the source said.
The meetings signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed its role as a key mediator after suspending that role last month, the source said, adding that negotiators from terrorist group Hamas would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha to facilitate a fresh round of talks soon.
In November with pressure put on Doha to expel Hamas, Qatar had said that it wouldn’t act as a mediator any longer, essentially threatening the fate of the hostages because a deal would ostensibly be harder without Doha in the middle.
Trump’s first priority
Trump’s newly-appointed Middle East adviser, Massad Boulos, told French magazine Le Point on Wednesday that the first priority for the Trump administration will be the immediate release of the hostages.
Boulos added that while the release of the hostages should be separate from issues relating to the future of Gaza, a hostage deal should come within the framework of a temporary ceasefire.
“According to him, their fate should not be linked to other issues related to the day after in Gaza. Several countries are currently helping to achieve this goal, whether it is Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, or even Turkey,” Boulos had said.
Boulos stressed that Turkey should not replace Qatar’s role as a mediator but that it did have influence over Hamas’s decision-making, given it now houses the terror group’s key officials.
