US Peace Envoys Touch Down in Israel as Washington Works to Hold Fragile Ceasefire
In a scene that could have been lifted straight from a diplomatic thriller, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner landed in Israel Monday morning, the latest high-stakes move in Washington’s effort to keep a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas from unraveling. Their visit, confirmed by Hebrew media outlets, comes just a day after two IDF soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack, prompting swift Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
A Mission of Urgency
This is not a ceremonial visit. It’s the continuation of a relentless American push to preserve a ceasefire that has, for the first time in two years, silenced Gaza’s skies, if only momentarily. Witkoff and Kushner’s arrival marks the start of what insiders are calling “the consolidation phase” of the Trump-brokered peace framework, a plan that has brought unprecedented coordination among Israel, Qatar, and key Arab states.
Their arrival follows the duo’s recent controversial appearance on CBS 60 Minutes, where they offered rare insight into how a two-year war of attrition was brought to a close through negotiation, persuasion, and sheer force of will. Israelis who have seen the interview have been critical as Kushner and Witkoff appear to have empathy for Hamas leaders, and criticize Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, labeling Qatar, which is one of the largest State sponsors of Islamist terror, a "peacemaker". Many believe the Trump/Kishner/Witkoff business interests with Qatar are more important to them than actual regional security.
The Architects of an Unlikely Peace
Both men came into the arena not as traditional diplomats but as dealmakers turned peacemakers, individuals whose influence spans the worlds of global finance, real estate, and foreign policy. As they told CBS:
"That means they trust us. We understand their cultures. We understand how they work. And we're able to use that knowledge and skill set to try to do things that advance the world."
That trust, they explained, became the foundation of a diplomatic framework that redefined alliances across the Middle East, one where personal credibility mattered as much as political power. And this is the issue many have, the men are entrenched with a nation that supports the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood which is actively working to destabilize the West.
The Qatar Conundrum
According to Kushner, a major test came when Israel launched a surprise strike on Doha, an operation neither he nor Witkoff had prior knowledge of. The move, Kushner admitted, shattered regional trust at a critical juncture:
"Steve and I were very upset about that. We thought that that really was not a smart strategic move, and it violated a lot of the trust that we felt -- like we deserved from the Israeli side."
Rather than abandoning the talks, the pair pivoted, transforming chaos into opportunity.
"Steve and I basically sat together and said, 'We need to take a whole new approach.' And perhaps with all of this chaos can come an opportunity..."
From that moment, the ceasefire proposal and the end-of-war plan were fused into a single, ambitious document, one that demanded not just silence on the battlefield but a reordering of regional priorities.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff condemn Israel’s strike against Hamas in Qatar. “We both felt betrayed. [The President] felt the Israelis were getting out of control.”
— Dumisani Washington (@DumisaniTemsgen) October 18, 2025
Leslie Stahl: “The Israelis bombed the peacemakers.”
“And we lost the confidence of the Qataris.”
This is… pic.twitter.com/O2P2C8Ve42
Trump’s Directive: Go All In
Once they secured Qatari cooperation, the next step was taking the plan to the Oval Office. Kushner recalled that President Trump’s reaction was immediate and decisive:
"And then we'll figure out how to get Israel on board and turn this whole negotiation around," they recounted the president saying.
It was a classic Trump maneuver, flipping the script, making Hamas the global outcast instead of Israel, and forcing Arab capitals to choose sides in a battle of legitimacy.
Rewriting the Narrative
Kushner emphasized how the diplomatic equation shifted once Arab leaders backed the Trump plan:
"This put the ball in the court of Hamas, and it turned the Arab world against them because now the Arab world had endorsed this plan, and President Trump had gotten Israel to agree to the plan."
Witkoff elaborated on how the team worked the phones relentlessly, bypassing bureaucracy and speaking directly to heads of state:
"The president, when we went to that UNGA meeting with the Arab leaders, came out of that with almost unanimity, a consensus of support from everybody there. We had been working those -- telephone lines to all the leaders of those countries. We were not talking to junior people or lieutenants over there. We were talking directly to the people who make the final decisions."
This level of top-tier engagement, Witkoff said, was “very, very critical” to the success of the deal.
Exclusive: Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, and special envoy Steve Witkoff give a behind-the-scenes look at the tense moments leading up to the ceasefire and hostage deal after an Israeli bombing threatened to derail the agreement.
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 17, 2025
“[Trump] felt like the Israelis… pic.twitter.com/WtZpJcYHTG
Netanyahu’s Moment of Reckoning
Perhaps the most remarkable revelation came when Kushner recounted how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under Trump’s urging, issued a direct apology to Qatar, a move that shocked many in Israel’s defense establishment.
"Ultimately, Prime Minister Netanyahu wasn't going to do anything, or say anything, or agree to anything that he didn't feel comfortable with. But he knew what needed to be done at that moment to make peace. And I give him a lot of credit for meeting the moment and doing what needed to be done..."
The apology, once considered politically unthinkable, became the turning point that stabilized the agreement. Kushner even hinted that Israel and Qatar could evolve into “incredible allies”, a notion that would have been unimaginable a year ago.
Repairing Decades of Mistrust
The mission wasn’t just about ink and signatures; it was about restoring faith after generations of suspicion. As Witkoff reflected:
"You know, we were trying to build trust between people who didn't trust each other because of decades of mistrust and distrust. And that's not an easy thing to correct."
Lesley Stahl asks Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff about concerns surrounding their potential conflicts of interest, given their business dealings with Gulf states and Qatar’s central role in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. https://t.co/mLZWRdZFpU pic.twitter.com/WRskr6W13L
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 19, 2025
A Ceasefire Tested by Fire
Now, as Witkoff and Kushner return to the region under the shadow of new violence, their goal is to ensure that the diplomatic miracle they engineered doesn’t unravel under the weight of old grudges and new provocations. Their visit sends a message to both allies and adversaries alike: The U.S. is watching, and the deal stands.
