A meeting brings together Khalil al-Hayya and the American envoy, taking place in Istanbul to discuss outstanding issues.

All eyes are on Istanbul today, where U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is holding a new meeting with a delegation from Hamas led by Khalil Hayya, in a negotiation round that reflects the depth of increasing U.S. engagement in the Gaza file. This meeting, the second of its kind in weeks, comes as an extension of a negotiation path that began before the signing of the ceasefire agreement on October 9, when Washington played an unannounced role in bridging the positions of both parties during a meeting held in Cairo, which included Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. According to informed sources, Washington made clear commitments to the movement that it would pressure Israel later to adhere to any understanding reached, in exchange for a similar commitment from Hamas to implement the terms of the agreement if signed.

Although these meetings are officially presented as political in nature, their atmosphere carried rare humanitarian dimensions in the dynamics of this type of negotiation. Witkoff revealed in a joint interview with Kushner last month that he found himself exchanging personal conversations with Khalil Hayya about the experience of loss, as both lost their sons under tragic circumstances. Witkoff's son, Andrew, died from a fatal opioid overdose, while Hamam Hayya was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas headquarters in Doha. Kushner described that moment in an interview with "60 Minutes" as a turning point that "removed the rigidity from the negotiating table and introduced a level of rare human fragility in such contexts."

This communication does not seem to be isolated from previous attempts that took place away from the spotlight. Information indicates that Witkoff played a secret role during the early months of President Trump's second term, when he met figures from Hamas leadership in an effort to secure the release of American-Israeli soldier Eidan Alexander. That attempt ended abruptly last March after Israel leaked the content of the communications as soon as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy, Ron Dermer, became aware of them, leading to the complete collapse of the path.

The current Istanbul meeting carries a dimension that goes beyond what is apparent regarding the consolidation of the ceasefire. Witkoff is expected to reopen the file on disarming Hamas, a demand that Washington considers essential for reaching a long-term settlement. While the envoy spoke of signs of "implicit readiness" from the movement to discuss the matter in previous stages, Hamas's public positions have remained sharply rejecting, particularly in its recent statement condemning the Security Council's decision regarding the establishment of an international force to stabilize Gaza.

In parallel, Witkoff is leading sensitive negotiations concerning a safe passage for a group of Hamas fighters estimated to number between one hundred and two hundred trapped inside a network of tunnels in Rafah, in an area known as the "yellow line," where Israeli occupation forces have been stationed since the ceasefire began on October 10. Washington is trying to convince Israel to grant these fighters a safe exit to another area or a third country in exchange for handing over their weapons, which would constitute the first step in a broader program aimed at gradually dismantling the military capabilities of the movement, based on Trump's twenty-point plan to end the war. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially expressed his approval of the plan when it was proposed, it was not translated into an official agreement, before being later replaced by a different document that focused on ceasefire terms, prisoner exchanges, and humanitarian aid.

Obstacles to any tangible progress remain. Israel has so far rejected the principle of a safe passage, considering it a concession that undermines deterrence, while Hamas maintains an ambiguous stance on the idea of disarmament, neither accepting it nor completely closing the door on discussing it within broader future arrangements. Between these two rigid positions, U.S. diplomacy is trying to test the flexibility of both parties in search of a path capable of stabilizing the ceasefire first, and then moving to a deeper approach that addresses the security and political roots of the conflict.

The meeting comes two days after Hamas rejected the UN Security Council's approval of a draft resolution formulated by the United States, which supports President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza that relies on creating a new foreign mandate in Palestine.

The movement considered that the resolution "does not rise to the level of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people, and imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and its forces and factions reject."

Hamas stated, "Assigning the international force tasks and roles within the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality and turns it into a party in the conflict in favor of the occupation."

This intensive U.S. engagement reveals a clear shift in Washington's traditional approach, from managing the crisis from a distance to direct involvement in highly sensitive negotiations. However, this shift, despite its importance, places the United States in front of a highly complex equation: