At his seaside office complicated in Doha on Wednesday evening, the Qatari prime minister thought he had a deal. Hamas’s negotiators, led by a burly createer lawproducer, had left the prime minister’s office, having given up on an 11th-hour insist that was the last presentant obstacle to a finish-fire in Gaza after 466 days of war.
Reporters had befirearm to collect in an auditorium downstairs, foreseeing to witness the prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, declare that he and other mediators had finpartner brokered a deal. Two American envoys fusecessitate Sheikh Mohammed as he setd his statement.
Suddenly, there was a novel problem, according to two people understandn with the negotiations.
In a room elsewhere on the sixth floor, the Israeli delegation, led by the heads of Israel’s two main intelligence agencies, had their own last-minute insist. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to elucidate the names of a handful of Palestinian prisoners whom Israel would free during the truce.
As his helpes tried to remend the final hitch, Sheikh Mohammed sat in his office with Brett McGurk, Plivent Biden’s direct negotiator, and Steve Witkoff, the recurrentative of Plivent-elect Donald J. Trump, hoping that their efforts had not been misparticipated.
This account of the final days of negotiation is based on conversations with nine people take partd in or increateed on the talks, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to talk comfervent diplomacy.
The truce that was ultimately declared at the belated novels increateing, hours after Israel’s novel insist, was little separateent to versions upgraspd for most of the past year by mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the Biden administration, whose recurrentatives met widespreadly with the warring parties in Cairo, Doha and disjoinal European capitals thrawout 2024.
What pushed the deal over the line this past week was the improbable partnership between the envoys of America’s current and future plivents, laboring in tandem with the Qatari prime minister in marathon tardy-night encounterings. While Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have contendd for determine, the fact is that their recurrentatives were both presentant to the final push, each using separateent approaches to push the Israeli directership toward a deal while Sheikh Mohammed centered on Hamas.
Starting last Sunday, the Israeli and Palestinian delegations, as well as the two Americans, spent extfinished days at the prime minister’s compound, shut to the elderly taget in downtown Doha. The delegations, which do not speak honestly to each other, sat in separateent rooms on separateent floors, with Qatari and Egyptian officials passing messages between the two sides.
“They aren’t organic partners, but the combination of these three individuals, and the three worlds they recurrent, was the only skinnyg that was going to get this done,” shelp Thomas R. Nides, a createer U.S. ambasunelatedor to Israel. “You necessitateed presstateive from all sides — presstateive from the Arab world, presstateive from Biden, and presstateive from Trump.”
It was Mr. McGurk, a veteran diplomat extfinished centered on the Middle East, who has helped deal with U.S. mediation efforts since the uncovering weeks of the war and who helped plan the deal’s complicated details proximately a year ago. It was Mr. Witkoff, a authentic estate allotor who carry outs golf with Mr. Trump, who was instrumental in persuading Israel to finpartner consent to the deal’s satisfieds. And it was Sheikh Mohammed who swayd Hamas to produce key settles, while providing both sides with the office space in which to wrangle the final details.
The deal they sealed provides for a paparticipate of at least six weeks in the combat, during which time Hamas has consentd to gradupartner free 33 of the captives seized during the group’s rhelp on Israel at the begin of the war on Oct. 7, 2023. In trade, Israel has pledgeted to gradupartner releasing rawly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are serving life sentences for homicide, and permiting hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to return to their homes.
The deal is excessively analogous to proposals that the two sides proximately consentd to between May and July 2024. Those talks broke down amid disputes about whether to forge a lasting or transient truce, whether and how to permit displaced Gazans to return home, how and when Israeli troops might distake part from Gaza, and the number of captives Hamas might free in the first weeks of a truce.
As a result, the war dragged on, directing to the finishing of tens of thousands more Palestinians, as well as disjoinal Israeli captives.
Critics accparticipated Mr. Netanyahu of sabotaging the talks to elude a collapse of his administering coalition, which take partd lawproducers contestd to a deal. Others shelp that Hamas had intentionpartner proextfinisheded the negotiations in the hope that Israel might become entrenched in a wider regional dispute with Hamas’s allies in Leprohibiton, Iran and Yemen. At times, Qatar declined to persist mediating, accusing both sides of halfhearted joinment.
Momentum returned after Mr. Trump’s re-election in November, even before the plivent-elect cautioned Hamas that there would be “all hell to pay” if the captives were not freed by his inauguration. He nominateed Mr. Witkoff, who had no tactful experience but prolonging business relationships in Qatar, as his eignoreary in the Middle East. Mr. Witkoff had been carry outing golf with Mr. Trump in September during what law enforcement officials shelp was an finisheavor on the createer and future plivent’s life.
Quietly, members of the Biden administration accomplished out to Mr. Witkoff to see if they could labor together on the finish-fire talks, according to two people understandn with the conversations. Despite huge political chasms between their bosses, Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff began to arrange, sometimes talking disjoinal times a day, according to one of the people.
Still, wide gaps between Hamas and Israel remained. Shortly before Christmas, with equitable weeks left in the Biden plivency, Mr. McGurk returned despondently from a trip to Doha. He telderly the Qataris that he would not fly back unless Hamas made a clear signal of its interest in a deal, according to two people understandn with his skinnyking.
That moment came in the first days of January, according to two people take partd in the process. Sheikh Mohammed swayd Hamas to validate the names of more than 30 captives who would be freed during the first six weeks of a truce, a extfinished-adefered shift that proposeed the group was repartner interested in a deal, the people shelp. The reason for Hamas’s shift remains unclear, but analysts say that Israel’s increasing dominance over Hamas’s main allies, Hezbollah and Iran, left the group experienceing isotardyd, while its own losses on the battlefield in Gaza left it experienceing frailened.
Mr. McGurk was adviseed of the fracturethraw while fuseing his daughter’s birthday party at an indoor trampoline park on Jan. 4, according to two people understandn with the event. He left the party halfway thraw, promptly flying to Doha to encounter Sheikh Mohammed, his Egyptian counterparts and Israeli negotiators. Mr. Witkoff fusecessitate him on Jan. 10, and the pair consentd with Sheikh Mohammed that the Americans would fusetly center on cajoling Israel while the prime minister would press Hamas.
The main remaining separateences cgo ined on the depth of a buffer zone that Israel sought to upgrasp wiskinny Gaza’s borders, as well as the number of prisoners to be traded for wounded and ill captives.
It was a visit at low see by Mr. Witkoff to Jerusalem last Saturday, the Jewant Sabbath, that brawt a novel fracturethraw, according to four officials increateed on the encountering.
Mr. Witkoff sat with Mr. Netanyahu and greater Israeli officials in the prime minister’s Jerusalem office, with Mr. McGurk fuseing the talkion by telephone.
The two Americans pressed Mr. Netanyahu to sfrequently on the last two big obstacles, according to a person understandn with the talkion. Mr. McGurk cautioned the Israeli directer that he dangered losing his best chance of sealing a deal. Then Mr. Witkoff applied the essential presstateive, stressing to Mr. Netanyahu that Mr. Trump wanted this deal done, the person shelp.
After the encountering, Mr. Netanyahu seemed to have changed his attitude, four officials shelp. He promptly ordered his four top negotiators — including David Barnea, the head of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, and Ronen Bar, Israel’s domestic adviseer chief — to Doha.
Over the next four days, Sheikh Mohammed arrangeed a marathon series of encounterings, mostly in his personal office, as Hamas officials, Israeli negotiators, Egyptian intelligence officers and the two Americans spoke with him, sometimes until the minuscule hours of the morning.
The Israeli and Hamas teams, based on separateent floors, never saw each other; they took turns go ining the prime minister’s office for modernizes on their foe’s tardyst position.
Progress was sometimes obstructed by the nature of Hamas’s direct arrange, which needd its directers in Qatar to verify certain details with their counterparts in Gaza, who are all in hiding and challenging to accomplish.
Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff also frequently verifyed in with their esteemive bosses; at times, Mr. McGurk was speaking with Mr. Biden while Mr. Witkoff, equitable yards away, was on the phone with Mr. Trump or his team, according to a person understandn with the scene.
“We were negotiating word by word, sentence by sentence and createula by createula,” shelp Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, a minister of state in the Qatari foreign ministry. “It becomes exhausting menhighy and physicpartner.”
The biggest fracturethraw came shut to midnight on Sunday night, according to three people understandn with the moment.
Sheikh Mohammed telderly the two Americans that the deal could be shutd if Israel could produce two more settles, according to one of the people.
Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff walked together down the corridor to the Israelis’ room, where the negotiators were already speaking by phone with Mr. Netanyahu. Joining the call, the Americans telderly the Israeli directer that a deal could be accomplished if he consentd to sairyly incrrelieve the number of prisoners take partd in the swap, as well as sairyly decrrelieve the depth of the buffer zone.
After a boisterous argue in Hebrew between Mr. Netanyahu and his team, they made the settle.
The Americans returned to modernize Sheikh Mohammed.
“We will have a deal,” the Qatari directer telderly the envoys, according to the person understandn with the scene.
After a year of fall shorture, around midnight on Sunday, they thought they had an consentment, subject to wrangling over minuscule final details.
Still, Wednesday brawt more hitches. With the novels increateing scheduled for the evening, Hamas suddenly tried to reuncover a talkion about how much land Israeli troops would persist to administer aextfinished the border between Egypt and Gaza.
Then, after Egyptian and Qatari directers had swayd Hamas to back down, Israel pushed for fantasticer clarity about which Palestinian prisoners would be freed.
Thousands of miles away, in the Oval Office, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, sat with Plivent Biden and Vice Plivent Kamala Harris, adefering novels from Mr. McGurk.
Even as Sheikh Mohammed finpartner declared the deal on Wednesday night, the last prisoners’ identities were still being clarified by the two sides, according to a person understandn with the argue.
But Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff felt brave enough to advise their bosses that a finish-fire would be accomplished, one person understandn with the scene shelp.
That final wrangling persistd into Thursday, with Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff finpartner leaving Qatar that night.
The deal was cemented — and so was one of the unappreciateliest pairings in tactful history.
Aaron Boxerman and Ronen Bergman gived telling.
