How Donald Trump changed the Gaza ceasefire agreement

Steve Witkoff was in the U.S. Capitol audience when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in July, an experience the real estate mogul described as “amazing” and “spiritual.”

Five months later, the Bronx-born businessman — with no diplomatic experience — was in Israel as Donald Trump’s chosen Middle East envoy, pressuring and pushing Netanyahu to make a deal to end the devastating 15-month war in Gaza.

After continuing talks, countless false dawns and seemingly endless problems, Joe Biden’s chances as US president before the end of his term appear stacked.

So when Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani announced in Doha that Israel and Hamas had finally reached a cease-fire agreement — allowing the release of hostages in the besieged Strip — Witkoff was present with other negotiators.

“What’s changed in the last eight months? It was Trump and Witkoff. The way Trump acted made the difference,” said a person briefed on the talks.

of The structure of the agreement — a multi-step proposal that would ultimately lead to peace and reconstruction — was first conceived by mediators and publicly by Biden six months ago. But in the end, it was Trump’s arrogance that sealed the deal.

Trump made Middle East peace a big issue during the campaign and attacked Biden for not ratifying the cease-fire agreement. After the vote, he moved quickly to return the speech. Witkoff, an unexpected appointment as Middle East envoy, was sent to Qatar on November 22 – less than three weeks after his election victory.

In Doha, Witkoff met with Sheikh Mohammed to get an update on the stalled talks and to understand why Qatar – which has been frustrated by the warring factions’ lack of progress in talks and criticism of its handling of Hamas – has ended its role as mediator.

He then flew to Tel Aviv to meet with Netanyahu. Witkoff is not known to have offered any actual threats from Trump or made promises to Israel in the event of a deal — both trademarks of Trump’s diplomacy, which is unpredictable and marketing in equal measure.

But the impact was clear: a day later, on November 24, Israel’s top negotiator, David Barnea, traveled to Vienna to meet Mossad chief Sheikh Mohammed.

“That’s when things started, and there was a completely different willingness on the part of the Israelis,” the person briefed on the talks said.

Witkoff, a close friend of Trump’s known to Qatari officials for his real estate business, suddenly became a weatherman in an unlikely negotiating team led by Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk.

Biden and Trump both temporarily put aside their personal and political rivalries as they instructed their delegates to coordinate — a minor miracle in itself.

Their challenge was clear. Netanyahu has spent much of the past year going around Biden’s negotiators, often coming close to a deal before offering new terms, including new demands for Israeli troops to remain in the Philadelphia corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Even some Israeli security officials have accused Netanyahu of stalling the process, but the Biden administration has echoed Hamas, at least publicly, blaming Israel for failing to negotiate.

By this time, Israel had largely accomplished its battlefield objectives against Hamas: the militant group’s military capabilities had collapsed and Israel had killed all of the group’s top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the ringleader of the October 7 attacks.

Biden’s team concluded that there would be no deal as long as Sinwar was alive. But even after Israel killed him in October, the Gaza talks still stuck. Netanyahu has been publicly saying he will never agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza or withdrawing Israeli troops from the encirclement — and he shows no signs of budging.

Trump’s election victory undermined the Gaza talks and created a new reality: any deal agreed upon by Biden would be implemented by Trump.

In early December, Trump made it clear that he wanted to end the conflict when he took office in January, posting on his social media platform: “If the hostages are not released before January 20, 2025.” . . In the Middle East, whatever you pay, there will be hell. The post came after Trump had dinner with Netanyahu’s wife Sara and son Yair at the Mar-a-Lago Club.

In mid-December, Biden’s National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan and McGurk traveled to Israel to make a final push to renew the Gaza ceasefire talks.

There were suspicions that Netanyahu, not a lame-duck Biden president, would be waiting to hand Trump a victory. Israel’s prime minister faced constant pressure from far-right allies who threatened to leave the regime’s coalition if they reached a deal with Hamas or “surrendered” to the Palestinians – and this was still the case. Struggle to manage After the agreement is announced.

But people briefed on the talks said Witkoff refused to budge as the discussions soured on several points. The people said that he had spoken directly with Netanyahu about what should happen with Trump’s support, and assured them that the United States would strongly support Israel.

“He gives us much authority to speak on his behalf, and he exhorts us to speak emphatically. Witkoff told reporters in Palm Beach last week.

McGurk’s return to the region comes after Hamas struck a key deal in early January, agreeing to release a list of about 34 hostages in the first phase of the deal, a senior US administration official said.

But again the pace of conversation was fading. Witkoff flew back to Doha to meet with Sheikh Mohammed late last week to discuss the issue of keeping the flight, and Qatar agreed to push for Hamas to push the Israelis.

With McGurk’s agreement, Witkoff traveled back to Israel to meet with Netanyahu – an unscheduled trip on Shabbat, the Jewish holiday.

Witkoff then joined Israel’s top negotiators, McGurk and Barnia, in Doha; There they stayed until the agreement was concluded. The talks were held in Sheikh Mohammed’s office or residence and often lasted until the evening.

At points, Hamas negotiators were found in the same building, one floor below.

While he has hunted many in the Arab world and beyond, he has not been able to use the power he has taken against Netanyahu to agree or condone Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza while siding with the Jewish state.

When Witkoff played, in contrast, the Israelis seemed more contentious. “It looks like he’s trying to get a business deal,” the man said in the conversations. “He applied the right amount of pressure. There is a feeling that there was progress when dealing with the Israelis.

At first, McGurk and Witkoff met and talked easily. But in the final round of talks, they decided it made sense for Witkoff to join the negotiations directly.

They know that any progress depends on Netanyahu conceding key points that have previously broken the deal, such as the resumption of Israeli forces in Gaza.

Aided by Trump’s political clout, Witkoff played his part. Netanyahu is known to have pushed a number of pro-Israeli policies during his first term in office that bolstered years of US policy in the Middle East.

“The only difference is Trump. Netanyahu wants to get along with Trump. . . . They (the Americans) have made it clear that they want silence here,” said another person familiar with the conversation.

Trump’s victory has put Qatar and Egypt under new pressure on Hamas.

“Trump’s influence was not only on Bibi, but also on Qatar and Egypt,” said Dennis Ross, now a Middle East peace negotiator at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “They sided with Hamas because they both have a stake in showing Trump ‘look what we’ve done.'”

The ceasefire will take effect on Sunday, when the first hostages are expected to be released – ahead of Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv

Cartography by Aditi Bhandari