
President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, recently visited Israel and Qatar for high-level talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. Witkoff met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Progress has been made in ceasefire negotiations to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with efforts to coordinate between the incoming Trump and outgoing Biden administrations.
Witkoff has been in contact with Biden’s foreign policy team, and there are no current plans for senior adviser Brett McGurk to return to the region. Hamas' political wing member, Bassem Naim, expressed optimism about reaching a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.