U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, are being hailed as key architects of the historic agreement between Israel and Hamas.
On Saturday night, both men appeared before tens of thousands in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, greeted with applause and cheers. The behind-the-scenes negotiations began, according to the Daily Mail, not in Washington but in Miami, and ended in Jerusalem at the Cabinet meeting where the deal was approved.
Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump speak at the rally in Hostages Square
(Video: satview)
From Miami mansion to Middle East diplomacy
The agreement that secured the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza began to take shape at Kushner’s $32.2 million home on Indian Creek in Miami, known as the “Billionaire Bunker.” There, Kushner learned that Hamas was open to releasing hostages, a breakthrough after weeks of discussions among key players in the war.
Realizing the moment had come, Kushner drove 20 minutes to Sunset Island to meet Witkoff, a longtime friend and property developer who now serves as a Trump administration negotiator. The two men set up what the Daily Mail described as a “diplomatic command center,” determined to secure a major Middle East achievement for President Trump.
3 View gallery
Ivanka Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at Hostages Square
(Photo: Paulina Patimer)
From that Florida base, they made a series of calls to key players, including Trump himself and senior Israeli officials. In an interview with the New York Times, Kushner said their priority was to persuade Israel to focus on the positive elements in Hamas’s statement rather than on what had not yet been offered. “Steve and I said to Israel, 'We encourage you to be positive as well,'” he said.
Negotiations move to Sharm el-Sheikh
Within hours of receiving Kushner and Witkoff’s message, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to move forward with the first stage of Trump’s broader peace plan. The pair then boarded a plane to Egypt to continue talks in person. A U.S. official familiar with the process told the Daily Mail that finalizing the deal remotely was impossible. Physical presence in the Middle East was essential. Landing in Sharm el-Sheikh at 6:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, they went straight into what one source called high-risk negotiations. By 2:30 a.m. the next day, the agreement was complete.
The insider said that despite sleeping only about five hours in three days, both envoys sensed movement from both sides. “[They] began to sense,” the insider said, "everybody had moved to a place in the middle where... there was a deal here. This has been a really dark cloud over the Middle East and I think everyone's very excited to move forward."
'Like real estate, complex but doable'
Kushner compared the experience to his work in real estate. “There's a lot to be negotiated before you get the contract and you put money up hard,” he said. “I think we're just used to complex deals that are very dynamic, and with complex characters as well. The experience that Steve and I have as deal guys is that you have to understand people. You have to be able to kind of get the bottom line out of them, and then see who do you think is playing games, and how much room do you have to push things?”
3 View gallery
Witkoff and Kushner with Netanyahu as he agrees to the first stage of Trump’s plan
(Photo: Maayan Toaf/ GPO)
After the deal was finalized, Witkoff and Kushner flew from Egypt to Israel to attend the Cabinet meeting that approved it. One official present told the Daily Mail, “Everybody started clapping... I think they were acknowledging that they were the emissary of the president. Trump is very popular in the State of Israel for all the obvious reasons.”
Trump’s envoys back on the world stage
A source close to the administration said Kushner has chosen to play a less central role in Trump’s second term after being highly active during the first. “He'll always be there to help those were serving, especially in the pursuit of peace,” the source said.
At the Hostages Square rally, Witkoff told the crowd, “I dreamed of this night. You have endured heartbreak and fear, but you never gave up. Your courage inspired the world. This moment was made possible by your faith and the bold leadership of my friend, President Donald J. Trump.”
3 View gallery
“The goal is Middle East peace and a historic achievement for the president”
(Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP)
He praised Trump for refusing to accept that peace in the Middle East was impossible. “He brought together nations once divided by generations of hostility and showed that shared peace is stronger than shared pain,” Witkoff said. Turning to the hostages’ families, he added, “Brothers and sisters, you are coming home. Your faces, names and stories have lived in every heart here, and in mine, since I began this mission.”
Kushner said, “Since October 7, my heart has not been whole. I carry a deep burden, the desire to see the hostages return home, to see their families find closure and to end this nightmare.”
Reflecting on the tense talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, he added, “It was not an easy journey. One day, Steve and I will tell the stories, and they will make you laugh and cry. It was insane. I noticed he didn’t use any curse words tonight, probably because he used them all during the negotiations.”