White House envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Friday in Miami with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to discuss the next phase of the agreement for ending the war in Gaza, according to a White House official and two additional sources with direct knowledge.
Why it matters: The U.S. and the three other mediating countries feel that both Israel and Hamas are slow-walking the implementation of the second phase of the deal and are interested in maintaining the current status quo, the sources said.
- This is the highest-level meeting between the mediators in the U.S. since the deal was signed in October.
- The meeting is aimed at agreeing on next steps for pressing both Israel and Hamas to implement their commitments.
- The officials meeting with Witkoff will include Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the sources said.
Breaking it down: According to the Gaza peace agreement, Hamas needs to agree to leave power in Gaza, agree to the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) and start the process of disarming and decommissioning its tunnels and military infrastructure.
- Israel needs to reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in both directions and start moving to the second phase of the deal, which includes further withdrawal by the Israel Defense Forces, deployment of the ISF, and the formation of a Palestinian technocratic government in Gaza.
- Meanwhile, the White House is trying to conclude its plans for establishing the Trump-led Gaza Board of Peace, deploying the ISF, and announcing the Palestinian technocratic government. President Trump wants to make those announcements in January.
Behind the scenes: Over the weekend, the White House sent a stern private message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressing that the killing of a top Hamas military commander over the weekend constituted a violation of the ceasefire.
- The angry message came amid growing frustration inside the Trump administration over what U.S. officials see as short-sighted Israeli policies regarding the next phase of the Gaza deal.
- President Trump told Netanyahu in a recent phone call that he needs to be a "better partner" on Gaza. Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Mar-a-Lago on December 29.
Split screen: Witkoff is also heavily involved in Ukraine diplomacy, and is expected to host meetings in Miami in the coming days with officials from Kyiv and Moscow.
