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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison and Andrew Roth

The inside story of how an unlikely alliance of Trump and Biden led to historic Gaza ceasefire deal

Palestinians in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip waiting for news of a ceasefire deal with Israel last week.
Palestinians in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip waiting for news of a ceasefire deal with Israel last week. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

It was a subtle, but significant flex of power by Donald Trump’s new envoy to the Middle East. Ten days before tomorrow’s presidential inauguration, he called Israel to announce he was coming to Tel Aviv to meet Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump had demanded a deal to release Israel’s hostages before he took his oath of office, and the man charged with making that happen was Steve Witkoff – a New York property developer confident that a long relationship with Trump could offset a lack of diplomatic experience.

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