Kushner reveals how Trump forced Netanyahu to APOLOGIZE to Qatar for deadly Doha strike – before approving secret talks with Hamas leader whose son was killed

The two men tasked with persuading Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire explained what should be done to get Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Qatari officials for the deadly attack on Hamas targets in the country.

Donald Trump’s Groom Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff described how the American President was enraged by the surprise attack on Doha on September 9, fearing it could derail peace talks because the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was among those killed.

They stated that Trump was unaware of the Israeli prime minister’s plan to hit Doha and that they felt ‘betrayed’ by the attack.

“I think he felt the Israelis were a little out of control,” Kushner said. ‘It was time to get very strong and stop them from doing things that he thought were not in their long-term interests.’

Following the attack, Hamas leaders went “underground” and abruptly halted talks Kushner and Witkoff had been holding with negotiators just a day earlier, the pair said in a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday night.

“The apology had to happen,” Witkoff said. ‘We couldn’t move forward without an apology and the president said this’ [Netanyahu]”People are apologizing.”‘

‘It was the cornerstone that took us to the next place,’ he added. ‘It was really important for this to happen.’

Trump then held the phone to Netanyahu as he read an apology to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani from the Oval Office on September 29.

The president also gave Qatar a new security guarantee and even allowed Kushner and Witkoff to speak directly with Hamas officials despite the United States designating the group as a terrorist organization.

The new statements came as Trump responded to allegations that Hamas had once again begun firing on Israeli targets.

“They’re opening some fire, and we think maybe the leadership wasn’t involved, it was some insurgents inside,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One.

‘But either way this will be dealt with harshly but properly.’

They shared how Donald Trump allowed them to speak directly with Hamas officials despite the United States classifying the group as a terrorist organization. Kushner is seen here with members of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza

President forces Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Qatari officials after deadly attack on Hamas officials

He added that the ceasefire that Kushner and Witkoff worked hard to achieve was still in effect.

To get the deal across the finish line, Kushner and Witkoff traveled to Egypt on October 8 and met with al-Hayya there.

Despite their differences, Kushner and Witkoff managed to make some progress in negotiations, with Witkoff speaking out about his own son Andrew, who died of an opioid overdose at age 22.

‘We expressed our condolences to him for the loss of his son. “He mentioned that,” Witkoff recounted. ‘And I told him that I had lost a son and that we were both members of a really bad club, parents who buried their children.’

In that moment, Kushner said, “it went from a negotiation with a terrorist group to two people kind of showing vulnerability towards each other.”

Once an agreement was reached, Kushner and Witkoff were able to reassure Hamas that the United States would stand behind the agreement and that Trump would not allow the agreement to be violated.

When the agreement was reached, Witkoff said the Israelis and Qataris, who act as Hamas’s point of contact, embraced.

“I thought to myself: ‘I wish the world could see this,'” Witkoff said.

Images of smoke rising over Qatar’s capital last month stunned the world and caught leaders off guard; because it marked Israel’s first attack on Qatar, a country with which Trump has become increasingly close lately.

Kushner and Witkoff seen talking to IDF soldiers in Gaza

Witkoff and Kushner speak to crowd after hostages’ release in Israel

Just months ago, Trump announced that he had accepted a $400 million Boeing 747 luxury jet as a gift from the Qataris, and that many members of the President’s inner circle (including Kushner) had a number of business interests tied to the country.

Trump immediately showed his disapproval of Netanyahu’s unexpected move in Doha.

Taking to Truth Social hours later, he wrote that he ‘immediately directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.’

“I consider Qatar a strong ally and friend, and I feel very bad about the location of the attack,” Trump wrote.

‘I want ALL hostages and bodies of the dead to be released and for this War to END NOW!’

Smoke rises after explosions heard in Doha, Qatar, following Israel’s attack on September 9

Trump’s 20-point peace plan was finally signed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, marking the end of the two-year Gaza war.

Afterward, Kushner traveled to the Gaza Strip and said he was moved by the destruction he saw there.

‘It almost looked like a nuclear bomb had exploded in that area,’ he said. ‘Then you see these people coming back and I asked the IDF where they were going. It’s like I look around and it’s all ruins.

‘And they said, “They will go back to their land, to the area where their destroyed houses were, and pitch a tent.”‘

“And it’s very sad because you think to yourself that they really have nowhere else to go,” Kushner said.

Still, he and Witkoff denied there was a ‘genocide’ in the region.

“There was a war going on,” Witkoff said.

Kushner talked about how he was affected by the destruction he saw in Gaza

‘It almost looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off in that area,’ he said

After the ceasefire, Kushner said residents began returning to their destroyed properties where they set up tents.

Meanwhile, in Israel, the agreement meant the return of hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack; Witkoff and Kushner said this was something they needed to persuade the Hamas leadership to accept.

‘The aim was to convince everyone that the 20 surviving Israeli hostages were no longer a Hamas asset. These are a responsibility, Witkoff said.

Kushner then explained that they should make Hamas think about what it would gain from holding hostages.

‘Tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed in these wars,’ he said.

However, questions still remain about how long the ceasefire will last after images emerged showing Hamas executing Palestinians it perceived as “collaborators” with Israel.

Kushner said that although the actions were horrific, they were ultimately not surprising.

‘Hamas is currently doing exactly what you would expect a terrorist organization to do; “He is trying to rebuild and take back his positions,” he said.

‘The success or failure of this will depend on Israel and this international mechanism creating a viable alternative.

‘If they succeed, Hamas will fail and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future.’