US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is slated to meet Wednesday in Istanbul with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya to discuss efforts to uphold the current ceasefire in Gaza, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.

This marks Witkoff’s second sit-down with al-Hayya. The first came on October 9 in Egypt, when Witkoff — alongside Trump adviser Jared Kushner — met with Hamas’s ceasefire negotiation team just hours before the agreement was finalized.

Witkoff has since asserted that Hamas leaders pledged during that meeting to disarm, a claim the terror group has publicly denied.

The upcoming talks underscore Washington’s renewed push to keep direct communication channels open with Hamas, after years of relying on mediators including Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)