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(JNS) Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said on Tuesday that removing Hamas from power in Gaza was a “red line” for the Trump administration as Israel and Hamas prepare for the next round of ceasefire negotiations.
Speaking at the launch of the American Jewish Committee’s Center for a New Middle East in Washington, Witkoff told attendees that “Phase 2” of those negotiations could begin as soon as Sunday.
“That’s what we’re hoping for, put Phase 2 on track,” Witkoff said. “Have some additional hostages released and we think that that’s a real possibility.”
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Under the terms negotiated by the Biden administration, Phase 2 of the ceasefire would include a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining living hostages, most of whom are male soldiers, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Witkoff delayed a planned trip to the Middle East on Wednesday until the negotiators could resolve the “boundaries” and “contours” of the talks.
“Central to the May 27 protocol that was signed by the Biden administration and the Israelis, central to that is that Hamas cannot have any part of any governing structure in Gaza,” Witkoff said. “That’s a red line for the Israelis, but it’s a red line for us.”
The real estate billionaire-turned-diplomat, who described himself as “very close friends” with U.S. President Donald Trump, also described more of Trump’s plan to redevelop Gaza and relocate the Palestinians living there to third countries.
“We’ve rebuilt Gaza three or four times and that’s just an unacceptable use of resources,” Witkoff said. “We need to get rid of this crazy, ideological, psychopathic way of thinking that Hamas thinks.”
Trump’s statements about the Middle East frequently break with positions that have dominated U.S. policy towards the region for decades in both Republican and Democratic administrations, including about the need for a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Witkoff said he believed that the fresh approach could lead to the normalization of Israel’s relations with countries throughout the region.
“People talk about two states,” he said. “We at the Trump administration talk about, ‘How do you get to a better life?’”
The Biden administration’s ceasefire deal assumed a five-year rebuilding plan for Gaza that the Trump administration believes cannot be implemented, according to Witkoff. That timeframe in turn informs its belief that Palestinians cannot remain in the enclave while it is being rebuilt.
“Once you begin to think of that as a 15- or a 20-year deal, this almost begs the question, ‘Are Gazans going to wait? Do they even want to wait?’” he said.
“Right now, Gaza is a long-term redevelopment plan, and I think once the Saudis begin to incorporate that into their thinking and the Egyptians and the UAE and everybody who has a vested interest in Gaza, I think you’re going to see development plans that more mirror the way the President is thinking,” Witkoff added.
With Lebanese Hezbollah deeply weakened and with a new regime in charge in Syria, the presidential envoy said that Israel could unlock deals not only with Saudi Arabia but with its northern neighbors as well.
“Lebanon could actually normalize and come into the Abraham peace accords, as could even potentially Syria,” he said. “So many profound changes are happening now, and yet it’s been a flash point for the conflict, and I think that there’s a possibility that we end it now.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, told JNS that Witkoff described “a new way of thinking about the region.”
“It is one that contains a vision for the entire region—not just Gaza—but the entire region that is more hopeful and more integrated, in which Israel is accepted, and which would be beneficial for Israel, for the region, for Saudi Arabia, for the world economy,” Deutch said.
