CAIRO/WASHINGTON/DUBAI, Oct. 10 (Reuters) — Hamas has described Donald Trump as a racist and a “recipe for chaos,” yet an extraordinary phone call last month has shifted the group’s perception of the U.S. president, leading to a Trump-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
According to two Palestinian officials, the call — widely reported at the time — involved Trump connecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Qatar’s prime minister to apologise for an Israeli airstrike on a residential complex in Doha housing Hamas’ political figures.
The strike, which failed to kill senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, appeared to convince the group that Trump could stand up to Netanyahu and might ensure a peace deal would hold.
Under the ceasefire that began Friday, Hamas agreed to release its hostages without a commitment to a full Israeli withdrawal — a risky gamble based on confidence that Trump would not let the agreement collapse. The group fears, however, that Israel could resume its military campaign once the hostages are freed, as happened after a previous Trump-backed truce in January.
Despite such risks, Hamas signed on after being reassured by the presence of Trump’s close aides, Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, during the negotiations in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Trump personally called negotiators three times during the final session, U.S. officials said.
While the deal could mark a step toward ending the conflict that began with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, there is no certainty that the later phases of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan will materialize.
Trump’s forceful reaction to Israel’s strike on Qatar, his handling of the June ceasefire that ended Israel’s brief war with Iran, and his public pledge that “no such attacks” on Qatar would happen again have all strengthened his credibility among Hamas and regional actors, officials said.
A senior Palestinian official noted that Trump’s dramatic order on Truth Social for Israeli planes to “turn around and head home” during the Iran-Israel ceasefire demonstrated that “though theatrical, he does what he says.”
Talks leading to the current deal nearly collapsed earlier in the week over disputes on Israeli troop withdrawal timelines. Progress resumed after Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, and Trump’s envoys joined the negotiations.
For the first time in two years, Hamas agreed to release hostages without demanding a full Israeli pullout, convinced by mediators that holding captives had become a political liability rather than leverage. However, the group received only verbal assurances — not written guarantees — that Israel will not resume hostilities once the hostages are freed.
“As far as we are concerned, this agreement ends the war,” one Hamas official said, acknowledging the risk that it could still unravel.
Trump is expected to visit the Middle East on Sunday at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in what officials described as a “victory tour” aimed at reinforcing the fragile truce.
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