Kushner and Witkoff Express disappointment Over Israeli Strike During Hostage Negotiations
NEW YORK – Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff,key negotiators involved in brokering teh recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire,revealed they “felt a little bit betrayed” by Israeli airstrikes in Qatar last month,according to an exclusive interview with “60 Minutes.” The strike, which israel stated targeted senior Hamas leadership in Doha, occurred while negotiations for the release of hostages were underway.
Witkoff learned of the strike the day after it took place. Former President Trump publicly distanced himself from the decision, posting on social media, “This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me.”
“I think both Jared and I felt…we felt a little bit betrayed,” Witkoff told “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl.
Kushner added that Trump believed Israel was acting without restraint and needed to be reined in, stating, “I think he felt like the Israelis were getting a little bit out of control in what they were doing, and that it was time to be very strong and stop them from doing things that he felt were not in their long-term interests.”
The strike substantially hampered negotiations,according to Witkoff,because Qatar served as a crucial link to Hamas. ”It had a metastasizing effect because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks,” he explained. “We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so Hamas went underground, and it was very, very tough to get to them.”
Despite the setback, Israel and hamas ultimately reached an agreement for Hamas to release all remaining hostages in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to an “agreed upon line.” As of Monday, 20 living hostages had been released, along with the remains of other deceased hostages.
The full “60 Minutes” report, titled “The Dealmakers,” is scheduled to air Sunday and will detail Kushner and Witkoff’s in-person meetings with Hamas representatives, and also their insights into the next phase of a 20-point peace plan addressing disarmament, troop pullback, rebuilding, and post-war governance in Gaza.
