Israel and Hamas have taken a major step toward ending their two-year-long war, agreeing on a deal in Egypt's resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in line with US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan.

Turkey's late involvement in the negotiation process has raised questions about Ankara's influence on the deal — and what concrete role it might play in implementing it.

New York to Sharm el-Sheikh

Gaza topped Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's agenda during his visit to New York in late September for the UN General Assembly. On September 23, Erdogan took part in a Gaza-focused meeting with Trump, with whom he met again two days later at the White House.

After that meeting, the US president said that he had asked his Turkish counterpart to do something for him, without elaborating. Erdogan later said the request was to help persuade Hamas, with which Turkey has a close relationship.

Ankara openly supports Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by both the US and the EU, and the Turkish president frequently refers to the Palestinian militant group as a "freedom movement."

On October 3, Trump and Erdogan spoke by phone, reportedly at the White House's request. US media said the former had again asked the latter to help persuade Hamas during the call.

Following this high-level diplomatic traffic, Turkey's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin — Erdogan's former spokesperson — joined the third round of peace talks in Egypt on October 8, which were also attended by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Previously, Turkey had not been directly involved in the two-year mediation efforts led by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, nor in humanitarian efforts such as airdrops into Gaza.

According to the Israeli English-language daily The Jerusalem Post, during the negotiations Turkey also managed to reach two Hamas groups thought to be holding hostages, which had previously been unreachable due to internal communication breakdowns.

After announcing his plan, Trump publicly thanked not only Qatar and Egypt, which had led the mediation from the beginning, but also Turkey.

Turkey's ties with Hamas

Turkey has maintained close ties with Hamas for many years, and Hamas officials have made regular visits to Turkey, including in the past two years. On October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly in Istanbul.

Israel later killed him when he was visiting the Iranian capital Tehran.

It is known that Hamas operates at least one office in Istanbul's Basaksehir district, which has been used for meetings with journalists. A Hamas-affiliated civil society organization is also based in Istanbul's Fatih district. Some family members of Hamas officials are also believed to reside in the city. However, it remains unclear whether any of them hold Turkish citizenship.

Turkish troops in Gaza?

Erdogan has confirmed that Turkey will play a role in the task force that is to be formed as part of the US-backed deal between Hamas and Israel that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the country will help implement.

According to US and Israeli media reports, the task force will include 200 US troops, as well as units from Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar. US sources say US troops will stay in Israel and will not enter Gaza. A Turkish official told the British news agency Reuters that Turkey would help locate the remains of Israeli hostages believed to have died in Hamas custody.

After the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkey deployed civil defense teams to search for missing detainees from the infamous Sednaya Prison and to help identify unclaimed bodies.

Deploying Turkish troops to Gaza — for any purpose — requires parliamentary approval, which the government is expected to secure swiftly and without difficulty.

On October 10, the Turkish Defense Ministry stated that the country's armed forces were experienced in peacekeeping operations and ready to take on any assigned mission.

However, several details remain unclear — such as the timeframe and the number of Turkish personnel to be involved. Possible Israeli reservations about Turkey's military presence in the region remain one of the main obstacles.