The Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was expected to head to Egypt to join talks to end the Gaza war as the White House signaled optimism about the prospect of a deal.
“I think we’re doing very well,” President Trump said in Washington on Monday, adding that Hamas was “agreeing to things that are very important,” without elaborating further.
The Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, told a news conference on Tuesday that Mr. Witkoff intended to travel to Egypt in the coming hours.
Along with Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East adviser Jared Kushner was expected to join the negotiations, according to an official familiar with their itineraries, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
Representatives for Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment. As architects of Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war, their presence at the talks would signal progress, the official said.
The negotiations began in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, a week after Mr. Trump presented his Gaza peace plan.
On Friday, Hamas issued a statement saying that it was ready to work with Mr. Trump’s plan to release all remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by saying that his country was preparing for the release of hostages.
Hamas’s statement said that “field conditions” would need to be in place in Gaza for it to carry out a hostage exchange, without saying what those conditions were.
On Monday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the Trump administration was working hard to “move the ball forward as quickly as we can” in the negotiations.
“The president wants to see a cease-fire. He wants to see the hostages released,” Ms. Leavitt said.
Mr. Trump announced his proposal on Sept. 29 during a meeting with Mr. Netanyahu at the White House. Mr. Netanyahu offered his support for the plan at the time, saying it “achieves our war aims.”
Though Hamas’s statement expressed willingness to free the hostages, it did not back many other parts of Mr. Trump’s plan, including the demilitarization of Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu has insisted that he will not agree to end the war unless Hamas disarms.
On Tuesday, Israelis and Palestinians marked two years since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war in Gaza.
About 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the October 2023 attack, and 251 others were abducted, according to Israeli authorities. More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, said the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
The post Witkoff and Kushner Set to Join Gaza Talks Soon, Official Says appeared first on New York Times.
