Gershon Baskin is an Israeli negotiator who has been working with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa to achieve a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. As he reveals in an article on his Substack page on Oct. 9, Baskin also played a crucial role as a backchannel negotiator for the current agreement, and had been the go-between for Steve Witkoff and Hamas leaders. Commenting on the agreement announced in the early hours of Oct. 9, Baskin writes: “There are still details that we don’t know but what is important is that this agreement is a declaration of the end of the war—not a temporary ceasefire.” He specifically highlights the need to clarify details about guarantees on Israel’s withdrawal and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Baskin makes a strong emphasis on the fact that “this deal could have done a long time ago.” He reviewed the history of how Hamas had agreed to the exact same terms in September 2024, but the deal was dragged through the mud because Netanyahu didn’t want to accept it and the U.S. Biden Administration didn’t care to take it seriously. Baskin writes: “From that moment, on December 26, 2024 it was clear to me that the only way that the war would come to an end is when President Trump makes the decision that it has to end.” From that moment on he dropped any attempts to work with the Israeli side, and only pursued the Americans, because “the Israeli side would accept whatever Trump forced them to accept.” After meeting Steve Witkoff in December 2024, Baskin was in continual contact throughout the various phases of this deal, up until the achievement earlier this week.
