The New York Times reported on Friday that US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to meet Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in the near future, according to informed officials cited by the paper.
The meeting would underscore the Trump administration’s intention to keep a direct communication channel open with Hamas, despite the movement’s designation by Washington as a foreign terrorist organisation.
The report said the planned talks show that Witkoff has not been discouraged by Israeli and American critics who argue that US engagement with Hamas grants the group unwarranted legitimacy.
Two officials told the newspaper that the timing of the meeting remains unclear. One of them said discussion points are expected to include efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
Witkoff and al-Hayya previously met in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in October last year, ahead of the signing of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. That meeting was also attended by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, who helped mediate the deal.
In a 19 October interview broadcast on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Witkoff revealed that he had offered condolences to al-Hayya over the death of his son in September, after an Israeli strike targeted a meeting of Hamas leaders in Qatar.
"I told him that I lost a son, and that we are members of a very bad club: fathers who have buried their children," he said. Witkoff’s son Andrew died of an opioid overdose in 2011.
He is not the first Trump administration official to hold such meetings. Adam Boehler, the US special envoy for hostage affairs, met Hamas officials several times in Qatar in March last year in an attempt to secure the release of a dual American-Israeli citizen held by the group. Those discussions did not produce an agreement.
The renewed diplomatic contacts come as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on the US draft resolution for President Trump’s proposed Gaza ceasefire plan.
According to AFP, the vote is scheduled for Monday, following days of pressure from Washington to rally support. The US initiative faces opposition from Russia and China, while Moscow has circulated a separate proposal.
The United States intensified its push on Friday to build consensus around its plan.
Russia’s rival text would remove any reference to a transitional authority led by President Trump and instead call on the UN to outline options for an international stabilisation force.