Aaron David Miller

But what does it actually mean to govern Palestine?

And who do you get to staff up the administrative structure that is going to be required, the thousands, in order to engage in this process of governance?

I mean, they're making a virtue out of necessity, I think.

And I think a lot of it flows from one other point, which I find extraordinary, that in order to close this deal on Hamas side, Trump authorized Witkoff and Kushner to meet directly with

with Khalil al-Hayah, probably the most important external part of the Hamas leadership.

That was extraordinary.

Trump had done it once before in March to openly negotiate, to construct a channel with Hamas.

And the more I think about it,

The more I go back to your initial point about Trump's transactional nature, he's willing to break all kinds of traditional diplomatic crockery.

And I would bet before this deal progresses substantively, there probably will be other direct meetings between administration officials.

and Hamas, which, of course, is going to drive the Netanyahu government crazy.

I wonder now, just your question prompts the notion that maybe to actually end up doing this deal, the U.S.

may have to construct this channel.

They're divided as well, but I think they have a much greater sense of wanting to maintain the coherence and the cohesion of the organization itself, which may in fact increase their margin of flexibility.

So I think that's another data point.

where Trump has gone to where no other American president has been before on that issue alone.

I might add that before his newly found love affair with the Qataris last year –

I think the president described Qatar as a sponsor of terrorism.

Qatar now, of course, is the president's newfound friend.

You've got the 747, which the president will retrofit and probably try to use.