An unusual meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 8 between U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Hamas leaders helped get the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement over the line, Axios reported on Monday, citing three sources with knowledge on the matter.
To allay Hamas’s fears that Israel would resume the war after the return of all the hostages, Witkoff and Kushner met Hamas officials face-to-face and promised that Trump would not allow this to happen, according to the report.
A day earlier, before departing from Washington to Sharm el-Sheikh, Trump issued a classified approval for the meeting in case it was required to seal the ceasefire agreement, according to Axios.
Witkoff informed the Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators about the approval after touching down in Egypt.
Around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, the mediators told Witkoff that negotiations had hit a stalemate, and asked if the envoys were willing to meet the Hamas leaders.
A few minutes later, Witkoff and Kushner entered a villa at a resort on the Red Sea, where the heads of Egyptian and Turkish intelligence, senior Qatari officials and four top Hamas leaders were waiting.
Khalil al-Hayya, who survived Israel’s strike on Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 9 led the Hamas delegation, and asked the Americans if they had brought a message from Trump.
Witkoff reportedly replied, “President Trump’s message is that you will receive fair treatment, that he stands behind all 20 clauses of his peace plan, and that he will ensure every one of them is implemented,” according to one of the sources.
The meeting lasted 45 minutes, with Witkoff arguing to the Hamas officials that the abductees had turned from asset to liability for the terrorist organization, and that it was time to let them go, Axios reported.
The Hamas officials then went into a separate room with the Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators. Director of the General Intelligence Directorate of Egypt Hassan Rashad returned a few minutes later and announced: “We have a deal.”
The willingness of the Trump administration to hold the direct meeting “made Hamas believe” that Washington was serious about securing the ceasefire, a source remarked.
All living hostages were returned to Israel on Monday morning, as Trump landed in Israel to make a historic address to the Knesset.
