US envoy to meet senior Hamas leader in Istanbul to push Gaza ceasefire

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet senior Hamas representative Khalil al-Hayya in Istanbul on Wednesday, November 19, to discuss efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza.

This will be Witkoff’s second meeting with al-Hayya, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.

The US envoy previously met senior members of Hamas’s negotiating team, as well as Trump adviser Jared Kushner, just hours before the Egypt-brokered agreement was signed on October 9.

Additional context suggests those talks played a decisive role in finalising the deal, with US officials assuring Hamas that Washington would hold Israel to its commitments if the group fulfilled its obligations.

Witkoff maintains that Hamas leaders privately agreed to disarm during the October 9 meeting, despite the group’s continued public rejection of any plan requiring it to hand over its weapons.

He is expected to raise the issue again in Istanbul, alongside ongoing US efforts to secure safe passage for 100 to 200 Hamas fighters trapped under Rafah on the condition they surrender their arms — a proposal Israel opposes and whose acceptance by Hamas remains uncertain.

The planned meeting underscores Washington’s push to maintain a direct communications channel with Hamas after years of relying on intermediaries such as Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye.

It also follows earlier secret US–Hamas contacts over the potential release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, an initiative that ultimately collapsed after details of the talks leaked in March.

By Jeyhun Aghazada