Witkoff, Kushner met Hamas leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh to secure Gaza ceasefire

A direct meeting between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and senior Hamas leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh last Wednesday was pivotal in securing an agreement to end the war in Gaza, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12.

The meeting reportedly addressed one of the main obstacles to the deal: Hamas’s fear that Israel would resume military operations after the release of prisoners. Sources told the channel that Witkoff and Kushner personally assured the Hamas delegation that US President Donald Trump would not permit a return to hostilities, provided the group upheld its commitments under the agreement.

According to multiple accounts, Trump had privately authorized Witkoff and Kushner during an Oval Office meeting the day before to meet with Hamas leaders if necessary to finalize the deal. Upon arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh, Witkoff informed Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators that he had received Trump’s approval to take this step.

Late Wednesday night, Qatari mediators informed the American delegation—then based at the Witkoff Villa at the Four Seasons Hotel—that talks had reached an impasse. They asked whether the US envoys were prepared to meet Hamas representatives directly. “We believe that if you meet with them and shake their hands, there will be an agreement,” one senior Qatari official reportedly told Witkoff.

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Minutes later, Witkoff and Kushner entered another villa at the Red Sea resort, where they met with the heads of Egyptian and Turkish intelligence, senior Qatari officials, and four senior Hamas leaders involved in the negotiations. The Hamas delegation was led by Khalil al-Hayya, who had survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Doha three weeks earlier.

During the 45-minute meeting, Witkoff told Hamas officials that the hostages had become “a burden rather than an asset” to the movement and urged them to proceed with the first stage of the agreement to enable the release of detainees on both sides.

According to one source, al-Hayya asked whether Witkoff and Kushner carried a message from Trump. Witkoff reportedly replied: “President Trump’s message is that you will be treated fairly. He supports all 20 points of his peace plan and will ensure their implementation.”

After the meeting, the Hamas representatives met separately with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. Minutes later, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad returned with his Turkish and Qatari counterparts and informed the US envoys: “Based on the meeting we just had, we have reached an agreement.”

The Sharm el-Sheikh encounter marked the second significant direct contact between the Trump administration and Hamas. In March, Trump’s envoy for prisoner affairs, Adam Boehler, held unprecedented meetings with Hamas officials in Doha in an effort to secure the release of American hostage Aidan Alexander and the return of the remains of four other Americans held by the group.

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