Did Steve Witkof meet with Gershon Baskin in Dubai as he claims?

1. Baskin’s account: a December meeting in Abu Dhabi and ongoing contact

Gershon Baskin has written repeatedly that in December 2024 he and a colleague flew to Abu Dhabi, “spoke with” Steve Witkoff, exchanged cards, and began communications intended to build a back channel between the American side and Hamas; Baskin frames that contact as central to his later role helping draft proposals that reached Hamas in September 2025 ^{[1] [2] [4]}. Baskin’s narrative is reported directly on his Substack and in his Times of Israel blog post, and both explicitly describe the December Abu Dhabi meeting and continued messaging between him and Witkoff ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Corroborating media accounts repeat Baskin but offer limited independent verification

Several outlets and profiles cite Baskin’s claims—The Jerusalem Post summarizes that Baskin maintains contact with senior Hamas officials and notes Witkoff’s role in sending “principles” to Hamas via an Israeli activist ^[5]. The Jewish Independent recounts that Baskin and his colleague flew to Abu Dhabi in December when Witkoff was attending a conference and that Baskin “in his telling” met Witkoff there ^[3]. These pieces largely echo Baskin’s account rather than independently verifying details such as timing, location, or witnesses ^{[5] [3]}.

3. Official or third‑party confirmation is absent in supplied reporting

The materials you provided contain no statement from Steve Witkoff, the White House, or other U.S. officials directly confirming the December Abu Dhabi meeting with Baskin; The Jewish Independent explicitly notes that the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and Israel’s foreign ministry did not respond to queries about Baskin’s role, leaving independent confirmation unresolved ^[3]. Similarly, other reporting reiterates Baskin’s description of contact and influence but does not supply independent primary documentation or official confirmation ^{[1] [2] [6]}.

4. Context on Witkoff’s role and why the meeting matters

Steve Witkoff has been described in background profiles and reporting as President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East from early 2025 and as an active participant in ceasefire and hostage negotiations; outlets note Witkoff’s public itinerary and delegations to Egypt and elsewhere that make his interactions with intermediaries plausible ^{[7] [6]}. That context helps explain why a private meeting in Abu Dhabi between a negotiator like Baskin and Witkoff would carry significance—Baskin frames it as the start of a back channel that later fed into proposals presented to Hamas ^{[1] [4]}.

5. Competing perspectives and gaps to watch for

Reporters and Baskin himself present the December contact as factual; at the same time, reporting flags the lack of independent confirmation and notes nonresponses from official channels ^[3]. Some sources describe Witkoff’s broader contacts (e.g., meetings, conferences in the region) that make a December Abu Dhabi encounter plausible without proving it ^{[7] [6]}. Readers should weigh Baskin’s firsthand claims against the absence of a confirming statement from Witkoff or the U.S. government in the supplied material ^{[3] [1]}.

6. What the available sources explicitly do and do not say

Available sources state that Baskin says he met and communicated with Witkoff in Abu Dhabi in December 2024 and that he later assisted drafting materials delivered to Hamas ^{[1] [2] [4]}. The Jerusalem Post and other outlets likewise report Baskin’s contacts with Hamas and his involvement in relaying proposals tied to Witkoff’s envoy work ^[5]. They do not contain an on‑the‑record confirmation from Witkoff, nor do they supply contemporaneous meeting records or independent witness testimony to fully corroborate Baskin’s December meeting claim ^{[3] [5]}.

Bottom line: Gershon Baskin consistently asserts that he met Steve Witkoff in Abu Dhabi in December 2024 and that contact continued thereafter; multiple outlets repeat that account. The documentation you provided contains no direct, independent confirmation from Witkoff or U.S. officials, and journalism in those pieces notes unanswered queries to official sources—so the claim stands as Baskin’s corroborated account in secondary reporting but not fully independently verified in the current reporting ^{[1] [2] [3] [5]}.