When Israel bombed Doha in early September, it nearly collapsed the Gaza peace process. The Qataris, who were serving as the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, threatened to withdraw from negotiations, a senior White House official told Politico. However, the moment proved to be a flashpoint. A quick intervention by US president Donald Trump, including a phone call that linked Netanyahu to Qatar’s prime minister, helped salvage the talks and paved the way for the first major ceasefire in two years.
According to two Palestinian officials quoted by Reuters, a private call in September made Hamas believe that Trump could actually deliver on peace. The moment came when Trump, hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, put Netanyahu on the phone with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to apologise for an Israeli airstrike in Doha. The strike had targeted a residential complex housing Hamas’ political leaders, including senior negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, but failed to kill them.
Trump’s quick handling of the crisis, which included publicly distancing himself from the Israeli attack and sending his envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatari officials, reportedly convinced Hamas that he was capable of standing up to Netanyahu and serious about ending the war. “This morning, the Trump Administration was notified by the United States Military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha… This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
The apology call and the perception that Trump could rein in Israel proved decisive. Within weeks, Hamas signed on to a Trump-brokered ceasefire — one that required it to release all hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal. Two Hamas officials told Reuters that the move was a “risky gamble,” relying on Trump’s personal investment in the deal to ensure it holds. “They fear that once the hostages are released, Israel could resume its military campaign,” one official said, referring to a previous failed ceasefire in January.
Also read: Gaza peace deal: Israel, Hamas won't be at signing of ceasefire in Egypt; who will be at event?The truce, which took effect Friday, has so far held for three days. Preparations are underway for a large-scale hostage-prisoner exchange, with Hamas set to release 48 Israeli hostages in return for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees, including 250 serving life sentences.
Trump is due to co-chair a peace summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh alongside President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, attended by world leaders including Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Antonio Guterres. For now, as aid convoys cross into Gaza and displaced families return to shattered homes, the future of the fragile peace rests on a phone call that showed Hamas a different side of Donald Trump — one it may now be betting everything on.
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