Trump envoy hails 'really great progress' in Gaza cease-fire talks

WASHINGTON

Negotiators in the Qatari capital are making "really great progress" on a deal that would bring a cease-fire to the besieged Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave, President-elect Donald Trump's enovy said Tuesday.

"We're making a lot of progress. And I don't want to say too much, because I think they're doing a really good job back in Doha," Steve Witkoff said at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in the US state of Florida. "We've had some really great progress, and I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president."

An Israeli delegation returned to Doha On Friday to resume indirect negotiations with Hamas in the latest round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza have been urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to grant the delegation full authority to finalize a hostage exchange deal.

On Friday, Hamas announced the resumption of indirect negotiations with Israel in Doha, focusing on a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of displaced persons.

Witkoff said he would be leave the US for Doha on Wednesday to participate in the negotiations.

"It's the president, his reputation, the things that he has said, that are driving this negotiation, and so hopefully it'll all work out, and we'll save some lives," he said. "I believe we've been on the verge of it."

Trump reiterated his threat that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the hostages are not freed by the time he is inaugurated Jan. 20.

“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone, all hell will break out,” he said. He declined to specify what repercussions he is considering.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have so far failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Israel holds more than 10,300 Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas is believed to be holding around 100 Israeli captives in Gaza. The group also said that dozens of captives had died in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.

More than 45,800 people have been killed since Israel began its indiscriminate campaign against Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel. Some 1,200 people were killed in the attack and 250 were taken back to the coastal enclave as hostages.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.