According to the Financial Times, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has already met with top Israeli and Qatari officials in an effort to press for the release of Israeli prisoners and a truce in Gaza before the former US president returns to the White House.
Trump appointed New York real estate tycoon Steven Witkoff as his regional ambassador, and two people familiar with the discussions told FT that Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani last month.
According to a diplomat briefed on the talks, he headed to Israel on November 23 to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Witkoff was advocating for a ceasefire “before Trump’s inauguration so that once the Trump administration takes office it can move on to other issues, like stabilizing the region after a year filled with war and instability,” according to a diplomat briefed on the negotiations.
