As President Donald Trump’s Middle East particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-regulation Jared Kushner head back to Israel this week, they appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday to share behind-the-scenes particulars on how the Israel-Hamas ceasefire settlement got here to be.
Part of the success of the ceasefire deal was convincing Hamas that maintaining hostages was extra of a legal responsibility than a acquire and that Israel wouldn’t resume the struggle after the hostages have been returned, they advised Lesley Stahl.
To achieve this, Trump gave Kushner and Witkoff permission to talk instantly with Hamas, breaking lengthy-standing diplomatic protocol. Kushner and Witkoff met in Egypt with Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ primary negotiator. Witkoff advised Stahl that he was in a position to join with al-Hayya concerning the deaths of their sons (Witkoff’s from an overdose in 2011 and al-Hayaa’s from Israel’s strike in Qatar final month).
Asked by Stahl whether or not it was true Israelis and Qataris hugged as soon as the deal was reached, Witkoff mentioned, “Absolutely, and I thought to myself, I wish the world could’ve seen it.”
After the ceasefire deal was settled, Kushner and Witkoff traveled to Gaza, which Kushner mentioned “looked almost like a nuclear bomb had been set off in that area … and it’s very sad because you think to yourself, they [Palestinians] really have nowhere else to go.”
Both Kushner and Witkoff declined to name the struggle a genocide after visiting Gaza. “Absolutely not, no,” Witkoff mentioned. “There was a war being fought.”
Kushner mentioned that “the biggest message that we’ve tried to convey to the Israeli leadership now is that, now that the war is over, if you want to integrate Israel with the broader Middle East, you have to find a way to help the Palestinian people thrive and do better.”