Kushner says U.S. leveraged Israel's Doha fallout to advance Gaza cease-fire talks
Jared Kushner claimed the United States used Israel’s global isolation after the Doha strike to pressure it into a Gaza cease-fire and hostage-release agreement.
At a security forum, Jared Kushner explained that Israel’s September strike on Hamas’s Doha headquarters, which killed a security officer and five lower-ranking militants, resulted in worldwide diplomatic isolation for Israel. He said the United States capitalized on this situation, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a public apology to Qatar and using the resulting pressure to steer negotiations toward a Gaza cease-fire and the release of remaining hostages.
Kushner, despite holding no formal government post, has represented the United States in talks on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine, and he emphasized that earlier diplomatic groundwork was crucial for the agreement to materialize. On Sunday, the Likud party responded, crediting Netanyahu’s decision to send troops into Gaza City and the intense pressure from President Trump for Hamas’s concession. The party’s statement linked the Israeli military action and U.S. pressure to the eventual hostage release. Kushner’s remarks highlight how geopolitical fallout from a single operation can be turned into leverage in broader conflict resolution efforts.
Why it matters
It shows how diplomatic pressure after a controversial strike can shape peace negotiations in the Gaza conflict.
How this story developed
- Sep 1 Israeli prime minister's wife faces libel claim over Oct. 7 accusations
- Sep 2 National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will present a seven-year, $20 bn scheme to move up to 1.86 million Palestinians out of Gaza, framing it as voluntary emigration.
- Sep 4 Ben Gvir outlined a first‑year target of 250,000 relocations and named potential host countries such as Turkey, Ethiopia, the Congo and Arab states.
- Sep 5 U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee says Israel has no active program to forcibly remove Gaza residents.
- Sep 6 Eight Muslim and Arab foreign ministers issued a joint condemnation of Israel's relocation proposal.
- Sep 8 Netanyahu publicly alleged that officials deliberately kept him asleep on Oct. 7.
- Sep 8 Sara Netanyahu announced a libel lawsuit against Yair Golan over claims of his prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks.
- Sep 9 Netanyahu faces mounting internal and international pressure ahead of the October Knesset election as the United Kingdom prepares sanctions on West Bank goods.
- Sep 10 The Israeli military announced it has demolished a Hezbollah tunnel system on the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, saying the strike ends its underground presence there.
- Sep 11 Israeli leaders announced that the Hezbollah tunnel network on Ali Taher ridge had been destroyed.
- Sep 11 Golan has filed a defamation lawsuit against Sara Netanyahu.
- Sep 11 Israel announced it will continue striking Hezbollah sites after the tunnel demolition.
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