President-elect Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday as Trump pushes for a ceasefire deal in Gaza before Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration.
According to the Israeli prime minister's office, a meeting was held between Netanyahu, the Israeli defense minister, Mossad officials, and officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations to "assess the situation regarding the hostages and the missing." After the meeting, Netanyahu sent the director of Mossad to Doha, Qatar, to "continue advancing" a ceasefire deal that includes the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Senior Israeli officials told Axios that Witkoff made clear Trump's goal of reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by Jan. 20, which he previously stressed on Friday to the prime minister of Qatar, where he is headed back to continue the ceasefire negotiations. An Israeli official added that Witkoff has played a "crucial" role in the ceasefire discussions, which include a partial hostage release in exchange for a weekslong halt in fighting.
Israeli officials signaled that a deal is fairly close, with Israel and Hamas very close to being "within the zone of agreement" and noting that Israel's negotiating team would not have gone to Doha if a deal was not reachable.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that Hamas is the reason why "we don't have this deal."
"That doesn't mean that they're not, that they can't be overcome, but it is, you know, they are making it difficult," he said.
Roughly 100 of the 250 hostages Hamas took after their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel are still being held by the terrorist group, including seven Americans. It is unknown how many are still alive.
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At a press conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, Trump reiterated his warning that "all hell will break out in the Middle East" if the hostages are not released.
"If those hostages aren’t back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas,” Trump said. “And it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.”
It is unclear what his administration would do if a ceasefire deal is not reached by Jan. 20.
