US envoy Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Egypt for Gaza ceasefire talks: Report

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law and Middle East adviser Jared Kushner arrived early Wednesday in Egypt to join Gaza ceasefire talks, Israeli media reported.

“President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh to join the negotiations on a deal for the release of captives and an end to the war in Gaza,” said Channel 12.

There has been no confirmation of their arrival from US or Egyptian sources, however.

On Tuesday, Trump met with his top national security team to discuss the progress of the Gaza negotiations before Witkoff and Kushner departed for Egypt, Axios reported.

Citing two sources with knowledge of the meeting, Axios said Kushner and Witkoff departed for Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday and would arrive Wednesday morning.

According to the report, senior US officials expressed cautious optimism about the chances of reaching a deal this week and emphasized that Kushner and Witkoff will not leave Egypt without an agreement to release the hostages and end the war.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is set to head to Sharm El-Sheikh on Wednesday to join the Gaza ceasefire negotiations between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.

Hamas and Israel held a second day of indirect negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday to reach a ceasefire and prisoner swap under Trump’s Gaza plan.

On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point proposal that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire, the disarmament of Hamas, and the rebuilding of Gaza. Hamas agreed to the plan in principle.

The Israeli military has killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable and has led to mass displacement, starvation and the proliferation of disease.