Jared Kushner arrives at The Mar-a-Lago club, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla., to attend the wedding of White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and Erin Elmore, the director of Art in Embassies at the U.S. Department of State. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The agreement has since encountered a major obstacle over the requirement that Hamas disarm.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
US negotiators used the international backlash against Israel following its failed attempt to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar as leverage to secure the Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said at a security conference in Ukraine.
Kushner said Israel’s Sept. 9, 2025, airstrike in Doha weakened its diplomatic position and allowed Washington to press for an agreement that Israel had not previously accepted.
“Israel did the strike in Doha, which was a terrible thing. It was unsuccessful as a military operation and that led to Israel being globally isolated and we used that dynamic in order to push them into a deal that now, today, they are quite happy with,” Kushner said.
He added, “But ultimately it turned out to be great for them and great for the people of Gaza.”
The attack was intended to eliminate senior Hamas political leaders gathered in Doha.
None of the principal targets were killed. The fatalities instead included several lower-ranking members of Hamas, bodyguards and a Qatari security officer.
Diplomatic repercussions followed, with both Qatar and the UN Security Council condemning the strike.
The Gaza negotiations ultimately produced a 20-point agreement brokered in October 2025 by Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. The deal ended the fighting and established a series of measures to be implemented in phases.
Hamas released all of the remaining living Israeli hostages during the initial stage. Israel simultaneously reduced its troop presence and freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The agreement has since encountered a major obstacle over the requirement that Hamas disarm.
Hamas has resisted giving up its small arms and has not agreed to dismantle the military infrastructure it still possesses.
Israel has responded by withholding the additional troop pullbacks envisioned under later stages of the plan.
Israel says it will not continue those withdrawals without comprehensive and verifiable disarmament by Hamas.
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