![US businessman Jared Kushner (L), White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (C) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) attend a meeting between the US President Donald Trump and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. [Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-2240449747-1.jpg)
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 […]
