Witkoff and Kushner’s in-person meeting with Hamas helped seal historic peace deal: sources

WASHINGTON — Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s bold move meeting Hamas terrorists in-person during the cease-fire negotiations last week played a significant role in securing the historic peace deal that saw an end to the war in Gaza, sources tell The Post.

Hours after arriving in Egypt, the duo helped push through remaining hurdles preventing Hamas from signing on to the US-brokered peace deal, which brought the bloody conflict to a close and secured the return of the remaining Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.

“They thought it would be helpful to get all parties — for them to at least meet them for the final stage, tying the knot on this thing,” a source familiar with the process told The Post, noting that the exchange was “a long time coming.”

Also instrumental was their prowess in dealing with Qatar, which joined the US, Turkey and Egypt in supporting the negotiations.

“[Kushner and Witkoff] leaned on the prime minister of Qatar and his negotiating team to help bridge the gap between the two parties,” the source said, adding that the Qataris “just trust those two guys.”

Axios was first to report the meeting between the envoys and Hamas.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sherren Haskel also credited the pair’s work on bringing Qatar to the table as having been a driving factor in the success of the negotiations during an interview with The Post on Thursday.

“The pressure on Hamas and the agreement comes from pressure from Qatar and Turkey on Hamas,” she said. “Think about it, the Hamas leadership is living in luxurious hotels with very fat bank accounts and businesses in Qatar and Turkey.

“It would be extremely easy for Qatar and Turkey to pressure Hamas towards that, and the good relationship that President Trump [and his administration] has with these countries and the open conversation, I think, played a huge part in creating that pressure on Hamas.”

Witkoff and Kushner will remain involved as the next phases of the cease-fire deal unfold.

“I wondered if I would ever see this day. It’s deeply gratifying to know that so many families will finally have their loved ones home,” Witkoff posted on X on Monday as the Israeli hostages were released.

“Today, twenty families are spared the unbearable pain of not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again.”