Hamas agreed to release the hostages after being convinced that continuing to hold them captive would be a laibility to the organization, a senior US official with knowledge of the negotiations told Walla.
Negotiations advanced swiftly after a series of meetings in New York and Sharm el-Sheikh, where the Trump team brought Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey together to help end the crisis and lay the foundations for an international stabilization force to oversee Gaza’s postwar phase.
“Within about two weeks, the first command post will be established in the Strip, with 200 American troops assisting in its construction,” the official said.
The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, approved by the Israeli government late Thursday, began by consolidating principles from earlier rounds of talks. The American team compiled these into a document presented to Qatari officials during meetings in New York with US Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
It was later shared with other governments, who were asked to provide feedback and help the US gauge whether “we’re on the right track,” according to the senior official. Consultations were also held with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and other Arab and Muslim governments.
The plan was then shown to Trump, who offered his remarks before a key weekend marked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN address. The American negotiating team met Netanyahu at his hotel, and by Monday, during his meeting with Trump, it was time to “build the defining moments of the plan,” as the senior official described, when Netanyahu apologized to the Qatari prime minister.
“At that moment,” the US official told Walla, “we realized we could move to the field and coordinate decisive talks in Sharm el-Sheikh.” The Americans then enlisted three intermediaries: Turkey’s intelligence chief, Qatar’s prime minister, and Egypt’s intelligence chief.
The official recounted that “Kushner and Witkoff arrived in Egypt after understanding that the technical teams had gone as far as they could, and in just 20 hours, they sewed the deal together. They landed Wednesday morning and, within hours, sensed a breakthrough."
"They realized Hamas saw the hostages as a liability rather than an asset, allowing the issue to be divided into two phases: the release of hostages first, and the postwar arrangements later. By 2 a.m., the American team understood they were close enough to announce a deal.”
After the Israeli government approved the first stage of the agreement, Witkoff and Kushner met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, urging him to take responsibility for implementing the deal. They then traveled to Israel, met with President Isaac Herzog in his sukkah, and continued to the Prime Minister’s Office, where they surprised ministers by joining the cabinet meeting.
“The Israeli ministers were surprised but broke into applause,” the senior official said. “Kushner and Witkoff tried to ease their concerns.”
While distrust between Hamas and Israel was expected, Hamas also hesitated to trust the United States, Israel’s close ally. The Americans conveyed through Qatar and Turkey that Trump personally stood behind every clause of his peace plan and guaranteed that all sides were acting in good faith. Trump reportedly spoke on speakerphone with Arab leaders to assure Hamas that his commitments would be upheld.
200 American troops to assist in Gaza stabilization
According to the senior official, the next major task is stabilizing Gaza. The US is laying the groundwork for an international stabilization force led by CENTCOM commander Gen. Bradley Cooper, who will set up the first command post within two weeks.
“Two hundred American troops will assist in its construction,” the official said, clarifying that “they will not be deployed throughout Gaza, only to help build and oversee the force to ensure there are no violations.”
Cooper’s team will include Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish, and possibly Emirati officers. “The goal is for this to be collegial, with Israelis cooperating alongside them,” the official said. Cooper’s presence at the talks reassured Arab states, which in turn assured Hamas that real guarantees were in place.
The Americans attribute the breakthrough to a rare consensus among all sides on the need to free the hostages. They credit the success of the Sharm el-Sheikh talks to the physical presence of Kushner and Witkoff. “Arab leaders saw how committed we were to the deal, and that we would stand by it,” the senior official said.
The goal now, the official added, is to expedite implementation so that when the 72-hour period ends late Sunday night, “we will finally see the hostages, and the one remaining female hostage, home among us.”