Esra Tekin
14 September 2026•Update: 14 September 2026
US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said Washington used international pressure on Israel following its September 2025 airstrike in Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas leaders to help push the country toward a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement.
“Israel did the strike in Doha, which was a terrible thing,” Kushner said. “It was unsuccessful as a military operation, and that led to Israel being globally isolated.”
According to Kushner, the United States capitalized on that diplomatic pressure to advance an agreement that had already been under preparation for months.
“And we used that dynamic in order to push them into a deal that now, today, they’re quite happy with,” he said.
The Sept. 9, 2025 airstrike on a residential compound in the Leqtaifiya district of Doha targeted senior Hamas leaders who were meeting to discuss a US-backed ceasefire proposal for the conflict in Gaza.
The top leaders survived the strike, making it a failed targeted assassination attempt.
Five Hamas members and aides died, including the son of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya. A 22-year-old Qatari Internal Security Force officer was also killed.
Kushner acknowledged that Israeli officials were initially uncomfortable with some of the measures that Washington was urging them to accept.
“At the time, they were a little uncomfortable with kind of what we were pushing them to do,” he said.
However, he argued that the eventual outcome benefited both Israel and Gaza.
“But ultimately, it turned out to be great for them, and it turned out to be great for the people of Gaza,” Kushner said.