Israelis, Palestinians celebrate ceasefire, look to return of hostages
The father of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas and Palestinians celebrated the ceasefire deal to end the war and free the hostages.
A long-awaited ceasefire. Two American presidents – one with a foot out the White House door, the other with a foot in. One trying to secure the release of hostages before he leaves office. The other warning there will be “hell” to pay if they remain in captivity.
Both clamoring for credit. But no hard evidence to definitely prove what sealed the deal.
What really dragged Israel and Hamas over the finish line for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement that has buoyed hopes for − finally − an end of the brutal Middle Eastern war? Was it threats and bluster, or patient diplomacy?
According to one person with direct knowledge of the talks, it was President Donald Trump‘s insistence that Israel and Hamas agree to the truce by the time he took office on Jan. 20, and that “all hell would break loose if the hostages were not released,” that was the decisive factor.
Others say that’s vastly overstating Trump’s role.
Both Trump and former President Joe Biden have publicly sought to take credit for pushing to get the deal done. Repeated earlier attempts to do a deal ended in failure.
Still, the person familiar with the matter, who is not a U.S. official, said Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, was able to get Qatar and Egypt − the truce’s other mediators − to persuade Hamas to accept terms they would not previously. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the diplomatic discussions. Biden’s envoy, Brett McGurk, officially led the U.S.’s mediation efforts.
The person familiar with the matter is someone who closely observed the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage negotiations for the past 15 months, including an earlier agreement reached in November 2023. The person said that, ultimately, both U.S. envoys − Witkoff and McGurk − were instrumental in securing the deal. It was a joint effort between the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations, the person said.
Witkoff is a real estate executive with no diplomatic experience. He worked alongside McGurk in the weeks running up to the ceasefire deal and Trump taking office.
However, the person said that it was effectively the Trump factor that in the end persuaded Hamas to do the deal when it did. The person said that when Biden was president, Hamas perceived what was described as daylight between the U.S. and Israeli negotiating positions on the deal’s terms and would routinely use this “daylight” to seek additional concessions from mediators that delayed getting the agreement done.
Some political commentators, Israeli media and opposition politicians in Israel have suggested for the majority of the 15-month-old Israel-Hamas war that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed doing a deal because he feared a political revolt from far-right elements in his coalition government, on whom he relies for support.
Netanyahu disputes this.
In his first term, Trump appeared to have a close relationship Netanyahu. Trump overlooked Israeli settlement expansion on land claimed by Palestinians and relocated the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the holy city that Palestinians claim as part of their future capital. By contrast, Netanyahu and Biden have a long and complicated relationship that’s hit low points, such as when the former U.S. president threatened to withhold weaponry from Israel if Israel invaded Rafah, a southern Gaza city.
A representative for Hamas could not immediately be reached for comment. A separate Middle Eastern diplomat involved with the negotiations said there was no question that Trump’s inauguration deadline for the agreement to be finalized was what he called a catalyst for it to be concluded. The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A sudden willingness to negotiate by Hamas
A former senior Biden administration official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the difference in reaching the deal was Hamas’ sudden willingness to negotiate. The official said Hamas wasn’t interested in a deal from August until December last year. However, the Biden administration official attributed the change in Hamas’ readiness not to Trump, but to shifting regional dynamics, including a weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria and its benefactor Iran. Iran also backs and arms Hamas.
The U.S official said there were no specific threats made by either U.S. envoy to conclude the deal in time for Trump’s swearing in, a point the Middle Eastern diplomat corroborated.
Is crediting the ceasefire deal to Trump too simplistic?
A second former senior U.S. official said crediting the deal to Trump is too simplistic. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the deal was reached mainly because of the pressure Hamas was under and that, in any event, momentum was moving in the right direction before Trump’s “all hell would break loose” comments. Trump and his team were helpful in the final days, the official said, his support sending a strong signal. The Israelis are also motivated to give Trump the lion’s share of the credit now that he’s in power, the official said.
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed,” Biden said in his farewell address from the Oval Office. When the deal was first announced, Trump, in a social media post, was quick to claim a measure of credit for the breakthrough that came after months of stalled negotiations. He had repeatedly warned there would be “hell to pay” if a deal was not made by the time he took office.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.”
Hostage families at Trump’s inauguration
Some of the families of Israeli hostages, and at least one former hostage, stood with Trump on stage at one of his inauguration events. They were clad in yellow scarves, a symbol of support that was also used during the Iran hostage crisis when more than 50 Americans were held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
In various statements, families of hostages have thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations.
“The president’s steadfast dedication to our cause has been clear to us,” said one of these statements, released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum after Noa Argamani, Shoshan Haran − former Hamas captives − and families representing six Americans and four Israeli hostages appeared at Trump inauguration events.
Israel and Hamas have embarked on a three-stage ceasefire. Three Israeli hostages and about 90 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel were freed on Jan. 19 as part of the initial stage, due to last for weeks. Four more hostages will be freed this weekend. Hamas is still holding 94 hostages in Gaza, three of whom were captured prior to Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 more back to Gaza. Three living American hostages are still there. Almost 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
When Biden announced the ceasefire on Jan. 15, he said the final deal largely mirrored the framework of a proposal he made back in May. The person familiar with the matter said that when Trump’s team became involved in the negotiations, Hamas realized it was in its “best interest” to do a deal as quickly as possible.
The person familiar with the matter said Hamas agreed to increase the number of “live” hostages it would release in the agreement’s first stage. Hamas, the person said, conceded that Israel would retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of territory that separates Gaza’s border with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing. These were concessions Hamas refused to agree to previously.
As an illustration of the close relationship between Israel and the Trump administration, the person familiar with the matter said, when Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, first arrived in Jerusalem to meet with Netanyahu, he was respectful, the two men had a “warm conversation,” and it was “very clear” that Witkoff admired Israel’s leader and that the Trump administration would not pressure Israel to agree to anything that would undermine its war aims.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook and Francesca Chambers.