It’s less than a week since the release of the remaining living Israeli hostages and the deal between Israel and Hamas is already being tested, with Israel carrying out airstrikes after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire.
That a ceasefire had been reached at all was a big surprise. It followed months of failed attempts to end the two-year war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
The breakthrough came after President Trump deputized not two diplomats to move the negotiations along, but two businessmen: one, a close friend, Steve Witkoff, the other his son-in-law, Jared Kushner – dealmakers who came up through the world of New York real estate.
Lesley Stahl: I heard the president asked you what the chances were for success.
Jared Kushner: Yes.
Lesley Stahl: And you said?
Jared Kushner: 100%. And he said, “Why do you feel so confident?”
Lesley Stahl: Yeah.
Jared Kushner: And I said, “Well, we can’t afford to fail.”
Steve Witkoff: We just kept on thinking to ourselves, “This finish line? This finish line is about saving lives.”
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner got to that finish line, they say, using the intensely personal techniques of real estate deal makers, dangling presidential promises, protections or punishments to get Israel and Hamas to agree.
60 Minutes
Jared Kushner: We wanted the hostages to come out. We wanted a real ceasefire that both sides– would respect. We needed a way to bring humanitarian aid into the people. And then we had to write all these complex words to deal with the 50 years of stupid word games that everyone in that region is so used to playing. Both sides wanted the objective. And we just needed to find a way to help everyone get there.
Early September, Kushner, Witkoff and negotiators from the Middle East were making headway on a ceasefire-hostage deal when suddenly things went up in smoke. Israel fired missiles into Qatar to assassinate Hamas leadership. Six people were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator.
Steve Witkoff: We woke up the next morning to find out that there had been this attack. And, of course, I was called by the president.
Lesley Stahl: You had no idea obviously?
Steve Witkoff: None whatsoever. You know I think both Jared and I felt– I just feel we felt– a little bit betrayed.
Lesley Stahl: Now, I had heard that the president h– that he was furious.
Jared Kushner: 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– it was time to be very strong and stop them from doing things that he felt were not in their long-term interests.
Lesley Stahl: People should understand that Netanyahu, the Israelis bombed the peacemakers, bombed the negotiating team.
Steve Witkoff: And by the way Lesley, it had a metastasizing effect, because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks, and we had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so–Hamas went underground, and it was very, very difficult to get to them. And–
Lesley Stahl: And they were the– your link to Hamas?
Steve Witkoff: Absolutely.
Lesley Stahl: You were dealing through the Qataris to make your proposals to Hamas.
Steve Witkoff: And it became very, very evident as to how important and how critical that role was.
Lesley Stahl: But there was something that happened that– brought the Qataris back in. And that was this f– phone call that I think President Trump actually forced Netanyahu to make to the Qataris.
Steve Witkoff: I wouldn’t call it forced.
Lesley Stahl: You wouldn’t?
Steve Witkoff: No. I would– I would say–
Lesley Stahl: It looked that way.
Steve Witkoff: –that– I would–
Jared Kushner: He’s becoming a diplomat now.
Steve Witkoff: Yeah.
Lesley Stahl: Clearly.
Whether the president himself knew of the attack in advance or not, he wanted Netanyahu to apologize to the Qataris.
Steve Witkoff: The apology needed to happen. It just did. We were not moving forward without that apology. And the president said to him, “People apologize.”
And so, on September 29, the president held the phone while Netanyahu read a scripted apology from the Oval Office. Mr. Trump was now directly engaged. he Qave qatar a new security guarantee–
Pres. Trump (during press conference): So today is a historic day for peace.
And introduced his own peace plan: calling for an immediate ceasefire and release of all remaining Israeli hostages all at once.
Steve Witkoff: The notion was to convince everybody that those– 20 Israeli hostages who were alive, were no longer assets for Hamas. They were a liability.
60 Minutes 
Lesley Stahl: How did they become a liability and not their sort of–
Steve Witkoff: Beca– because they weren’t–
Lesley Stahl: –bargaining chip?
Jared Kushner: What did Hamas gain by keeping these hostages? You had tens of thousands of Palestinians who were killed in these wars. You have half of Gaza, or more than half of it, is absolutely destroyed. And so what’s been the gain?
But Hamas was still reluctant.
Jared Kushner: Hamas’s worst nightmare in the deal would be that Israel withdrew to the agreed upon line, Hamas released all the hostages, and then once that occurred, Israel just resumed the war and went back to going after them.
To reassure Hamas, President Trump gave Kushner and Witkoff permission to talk directly with the terrorists, a big break with diplomatic protocol. On October 8, the two landed in Egypt to deliver a message from President Trump to al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator.
Steve Witkoff: The president said “We will stand behind this deal. We will not allow the terms of this deal for any party to be violated.”
Jared Kushner: And– and both sides will be treated fairly.
Steve Witkoff: And both sides will be treated fairly. So we got into the room. The lead negotiator was sitting right next to me.
Lesley Stahl: That negotiator was in Doha when the Israelis struck.
Steve Witkoff: Correct.
Lesley Stahl: He survived—
Steve Witkoff: Mhmm.
Lesley Stahl: –but his son was killed.
Steve Witkoff: Right–
Lesley Stahl: Is that right?
Steve Witkoff: That’s right. That’s right– And we expressed our condolences to him for the loss of his son. He mentioned it. And I told him that I had lost a son, and that we were both members of a really bad club, parents who have buried children.
Witkoff’s son, Andrew, died of an opioid overdose at the age of 22.
Jared Kushner: When Steve and him spoke about their sons, it turned from a negotiation with a terrorist group to seeing two human beings kind of showing a vulnerability with each other.
Lesley Stahl: Is it true that once the deal was agreed to that the Israelis there at that meeting and the Qataris began to hug each other?
Steve Witkoff: Absolutely. And I thought to myself, “I wish the world could’ve seen it.”
The deal allowed members of Hamas to stay in Gaza and called on Israel to release nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including some convicted terrorists.
Once the ceasefire went into effect, Hamas was given 72 hours to free the Israeli hostages. Kushner and Witkoff waited nervously. So–
Lesley Stahl: You decide to go to Gaza.
Steve Witkoff: Mhmm.
Lesley Stahl: And what did you see?
Jared Kushner: It looked almost like a nuclear bomb had been set off in that area. And then you see these people moving back, and I asked the IDF, “Where are they going?” Like, I’m looking around. These are all ruins. And they said, “Well, they’re going back to the areas where their destroyed home was, onto their plot, and they’re gonna pitch a tent.” And it’s very sad, because you think to yourself, they really have nowhere else to go.
60 Minutes 
Lesley Stahl: Would you say now, having been there, that it was genocide?
Jared Kushner: No. No.
Steve Witkoff: Absolutely not. No, no, there was a war being fought.
Lesley Stahl: So that very night, you go to Hostage Square where the families of the hostages have been protesting, mourning, being very frustrated, angry sometimes. And every time you mentioned President Trump–
Steve Witkoff (In Hostage Square): To President Donald J. Trump.
Crowd (In Hostage Square): Woo!
Steve Witkoff: I had to stop because they were cheerin’.
Crowd (In Hostage Square): Thank you Trump!
Lesley Stahl: But then you tried to thank Netanyahu and—
Steve Witkoff (In Hostage Square: To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who–
Crowd (In Hostage Square): Boo!
Lesley Stahl: Every time you said his name—
Steve Witkoff: I know.
Lesley Stahl: –they booed.
Steve Witkoff: Look, that’s how they feel. I don’t feel like that– that way and I thought he steered his country through some really difficult circumstances.
Lesley Stahl: People think that he prolonged the– the incarceration of the hostages for his own political future.
Steve Witkoff: Yeah, I don’t– I don’t think that’s the case.
Jared Kushner (In Hostage Square): October 7 for me was a shattering day. Since then, my heart has not been complete.
But then Kushner brought up the Gazans.
Jared Kushner (In Hostage Square): To see the suffering end for the people in Gaza, who, for most of them, were experiencing this through no fault of their own.
Jared Kushner: 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. Because it–
Lesley Stahl: How are you doin’ with that message?
Jared Kushner: We’re– we’re just getting started.
Lesley Stahl: How sure are you that what you’ve accomplished so far is gonna stick?
Jared Kushner: First of all, it’s the Middle East, so everyone complains about everything.
One worrisome issue: whether Hamas is dragging its feet in returning the remains of deceased Israeli hostages.
Lesley Stahl: Are you saying, publicly right now–
Jared Kushner: Mhmm.
Lesley Stahl: –that Hamas is acting in good faith– seriously looking for the bodies?
Jared Kushner: As far as we’ve seen from what’s being conveyed to us from the mediators, they are so far. That could break down at any minute, but right now– we have seen them looking to honor their agreement.
Another flashpoint: the number of trucks Israel is allowing to enter Gaza with desperately needed food, medicine and other aid.
Then there are several issues that were kicked down the road, left unresolved: like the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, the need to establish an international peacekeeping mechanism, a functional government in Gaza, and most urgently, when and how Hamas will disarm.
Lesley Stahl: Hamas now is using weapons– to execute people that they perceive as their enemies in Gaza. And they’re also using their weapons to reestablish themselves as– the– the entity that is governing Gaza. They’re moving into the vacuum.
Jared Kushner: Hamas right now is doing exactly what you would expect a terrorist organization to do, which is to try to reconstitute and take back their positions.
Lesley Stahl: Right.
Jared Kushner: The success or failure of this will be if Israel and this international mechanism is able to create a viable alternative. If they are successful, Hamas will fail, and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future.
The eventual rebuilding of Gaza will be a monumental project. That the two businessmen running the negotiations have deep financial ties in the Middle East, specifically in Qatar, has raised ethical concerns.
Lesley Stahl: So, you have both done a lot of business with the Gulf states — billions and billions of dollars worth of business. And you’ve done some of the business while this negotiation has gone on and that has raised some issues of conflict. I mean, some blurring of a line between, you know, what you’re doing in terms of foreign policy and benefiting financially from what’s going on.
Jared Kushner: Yeah, so first of all, Lesley, nobody’s pointed out any instances where Steve or I have– pursued any policies or done anything that have not been in the interest of America. Number two is–
Lesley Stahl: But the perception?
Jared Kushner: But– Lesley, we– we can’t spend our time focused on perception as much as we have to focus on the facts. We’re here to do good. These are impossible tasks. And because this is important, I’ve volunteered my time to help the President and Steve to try to make progress. But Steve nor I will be involved in awarding contracts or figuring out who does business– you know, in Gaza after.
Steve Witkoff: Well, from my standpoint, Lesley, I– I’m not in business anymore. I’ve divest–
Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but your family is.
Steve Witkoff: But I’ve divested. Like Jared, I receive no salary, and I pay all my own expenses.
Lesley Stahl: This has become an issue.
Jared Kushner: What people call conflicts of interests, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world. If Steve and I didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal that we were able to help get done, that freed these hostages would not have occurred.
This past Monday, the Israeli hostages – all 20 – were home, in Israel. Families marveling with joy, disbelief, emotions so deep it hurt.
Lesley Stahl: Steve, how were you feeling when they come out?
Steve Witkoff: Elated. Elated. And I was thinking to myself, “What would I have felt like when I got the call from Cedars-Sinai Hospital that my son had died?” If the call from them was “He didn’t die.”
Lesley Stahl: Oh God.
Steve Witkoff: “We revived him.” And these people were all getting that type of call. Their kids were coming home.
But less than a week after their return, the ceasefire is under strain and the dealmakers are back in the region, trying to keep things from unraveling.
Produced by Shachar Bar-On. Associate producers, Jinsol Jung and Mirella Brussani. Broadcast associate, Aria Een. Edited by Warren Lustig Michael Mongulla
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