The Daily Mail: New details on the negotiations led by Witkoff and Kushner regarding the Gaza agreement

The British Daily Mail, revealed new details about the negotiations conducted by US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, regarding the Gaza agreement.

According to the Daily Mail, President Donald Trump’s historic peace agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered inside a Miami mansion, 1,000 miles from the halls of power in Washington, D.C.

According to the British newspaper, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was at his $32.2 million Indian Creek home, often referred to as the “billionaires’ bunker,” when he learned that Hamas was open to releasing Israeli prisoners held since the events of October 7, 2023.

After engaging in weeks of intense, high-stakes negotiations with all the major players in the war, Kushner realized it was time to act.

Kushner quickly drove 20 minutes to Sunset Island, where fellow real estate developer turned Trump administration negotiator Steve Witkoff is staying.

The Daily Mail noted that at Witkoff’s $19 million home, which he purchased in 2019, the couple transformed this wealthy Florida enclave into a diplomatic operations room, securing hard-won peace in the Middle East and delivering Trump a historic political victory.

From their Florida hideout, the duo made and received calls from key stakeholders and figures in the agreement, including Trump himself and members of the Israeli cabinet.

Speaking to The New York Times, Kushner said his priority was to persuade Israel to look at the positives in Hamas’s statement, rather than focusing on how far they still have to go to secure a lasting peace.

“Steve and I said to Israel, ‘We encourage you to be positive, too,'” he said.

Hamas had agreed to discussions leading to the release of prisoners, but had not yet indicated its position on relinquishing its weapons or its political control over Gaza.

Within hours of Witkoff and Kushner’s letter arriving in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the first phase of Trump’s broader peace plan.

Once the plan was launched, Kushner and Witkoff boarded a plane to Egypt, where they discussed all the ways the deal could collapse and the ways they would salvage it.

A source familiar with the details of the deal from within the administration told the Daily Mail that it was impossible to finalize those details without being on the ground in the Middle East.

By the time they arrived in Egypt, it was 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

They rushed straight into the high-stakes negotiations, closing the deal by about 2:30 am.

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, despite working so hard that they were both operating on about five hours of sleep in three days, Witkoff and Kushner sensed a shift toward a middle ground between the two sides.

“They started to feel like everyone had moved to a middle ground… where there was an agreement here,” the insider told the Daily Mail.

“It was a really dark cloud over the Middle East, and I think everyone is very excited to move forward”.

Kushner, a real estate developer who honed his skills in New York, compared global negotiation to his work in the city.

“There’s a lot to negotiate before you get the contract and pay the money,” he said.

“I think we’re used to very complex and dynamic deals, with complex personalities as well,” he added.

He continued: “The experience that Steve and I have as dealmakers is that you have to understand people… You have to be able to extract conclusions from them, and then see who you think is playing and dribbling, and how much space do you have to push things forward?”

Trump confirmed the agreement in a post on Truth Social Wednesday night, writing: “Israel will withdraw its forces to the agreed-upon line as the first steps toward a strong, lasting, and everlasting peace… All parties will be treated fairly! This is a great day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding nations, and the United States of America… We thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye, who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event happen… Blessed are the peacemakers!”

Trump stated that the remaining hostages, believed to number around 20 survivors, would be released to Israel on Monday, though reports indicate this could happen sooner.

“I’ll be there,” Trump confirmed during a meeting with Finland’s prime minister in the Oval Office, just hours after Hamas announced an end to the war.

Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, had previously said: “We’ve received assurances from our brotherly mediators and the US administration, who confirmed that the war is completely over”.

It was promised that 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israel would be released, along with 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza arrested since the war began.

After the deal was concluded, Witkoff and Kushner flew from Egypt to Jerusalem for a cabinet meeting with Israeli officials.

A source familiar with the meeting said they were greeted with warm applause: “Everyone started clapping… I think they were recognizing that they were the president’s envoys”.

He continued: “Trump is very popular in Israel for all the obvious reasons”.

Details of the meeting leaked to the Jerusalem Post indicated that things did not go smoothly for Witkoff and Kushner even after their arrival in Israel.

They were met with strong opposition from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing extremist who strongly opposed the deal the duo had worked tirelessly to secure.

Ben-Gvir argued that the Palestinians they are holding include, he claimed, “child killers” and “women rapists,” noting that the United States would never release prisoners with similar convictions.

He said that peace with Hamas was “impossible,” asking the duo: “Would you have made peace with Hitler? Hamas is Hitler… They want to kill us”.

Witkoff responded by telling a story about the moment he chose to forgive the drug dealer who caused the death of his 22-year-old son in 2011.

According to the publication, Witkoff said he saw the drug dealer’s parents in court and chose forgiveness at that moment.

Ben-Gvir responded, saying, “Mr. Witkoff, this is the difference: Those who murdered us on October 7 aren’t asking for forgiveness… Their families are proud of it… They want to kill Jews,” he said.

While Kushner argued that the deal “encourages actors in the Arab world to pursue peace, and ensures Israel’s security,” he continued, “If we need to act forcefully, we will… It will happen either the easy way or the hard way”.

The father of three was relieved to return home to his wife, Ivanka Trump, and his family after the deal was completed.

The duo had committed to playing a less prominent role in the Trump administration this time around, having been at the forefront of political life during his first term.

“He will always be there to help [those who serve], especially in the pursuit of peace,” the Daily Mail quoted an inside source as saying.

It’s worth noting that as part of the first phase of the agreement, an international summit titled “Sharm el Sheikh Peace Summit” will be held in Sharm el Sheikh on Monday afternoon, co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and US President Donald Trump, with the participation of leaders from more than twenty countries.

The Egyptian presidency explained that the Sharm el Sheikh Peace Summit aims to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability.

Trump is expected to make a brief visit to Israel on Monday, which may coincide with the implementation of the first phase of his plan to end the two-year armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and exchange prisoners between Hamas and Israel.