US used Israel's 'global isolation' caused by Doha strike to push Gaza deal, Kushner says

The US was successful in clinching the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal by leveraging the “global isolation” Israel faced after it carried out a strike on Hamas’s headquarters in Doha last September, president Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has said.

After the strike, which killed a security officer and five lower-ranking Hamas members, Washington pressed Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly apologize to the Qatari leadership.

Speaking to Yalta European Security Conference, Kushner said: “Israel did the strike in Doha, which was a terrible thing. It was unsuccessful as a military operation, and that led to Israel being globally isolated.

“And we used that dynamic in order to push them into a deal that now, today, they’re quite happy with. At the time, they were a little uncomfortable with kind of what we were pushing them to do.

“But ultimately, it turned out to be great for them, and it turned out to be great for the people of Gaza,” he added.

Kushner, who has represented the US in talks on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine despite holding no official government position, said: “Had we not done all the prework… when the opening came, nothing would have occurred.”

On Sunday night, Netanyahu’s Likud party hit back at the comments.

“The prime minister’s decision to send the IDF into Gaza City and to strike the Hamas leadership in Qatar, together with the intense pressure exerted by President Trump, are what led Hamas to drop its demands and agree to release all the hostages remaining in Gaza,” said the party.

Jared Kushner on Gaza:

Israel did the strike in Doha, which was a terrible thing. It was unsuccessful as a military operation, and that led to Israel being globally isolated.

And we used that dynamic in order to push them into a deal that now, today, they’re quite happy with.… pic.twitter.com/B6xLZsyzr6
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 13, 2026