Kushner slams ‘stupid word games’ in Gaza ceasefire talks on ’60 Minutes’

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, dove into details on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” about negotiating the Gaza ceasefire deal and peace, following decades of “stupid word games” in the region.

Kushner spoke alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff about their role in helping to accomplish the deal between Israel and Hamas after their two-year war. Host Lesley Stahl described the two as relying on the “intensely personal techniques of real estate dealmakers” which included “dangling presidential promises, protections or punishments” as opposed to standard diplomatic techniques.

Kushner told Stahl that the issues were ultimately “simple,” with the difficulty coming from having to play the “stupid word games” brought upon by diplomats.

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“We wanted the hostages to come out,” Kushner said. “We wanted a real ceasefire that both sides would respect. We needed a way to bring humanitarian aid into the people. And then we had to write all these complex words to deal with the 50 years of stupid word games that everyone in that region is so used to playing. Both sides wanted the objective. And we just needed to find a way to help everyone get there.”

During the interview, Stahl pressed Kushner and Witkoff about their past business deals with Middle East nations and whether they represented a conflict of interest.

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“What people call conflicts of interests, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world,” Kushner said. “If Steve and I didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal we were able to get done, that freed these hostages would not have occurred. We have trusted relationships in the Arab world and even in Israel, where we’ve both done business in the past. But that means they trust us. We understand their cultures. We understand how they work. And we’re able to use that knowledge and skill set to try to do things that advance the world.”

Witkoff also confirmed to Stahl that Israelis and Qataris literally hugged each other after a deal was made.

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“I thought to myself, ‘I wish the world could’ve seen it,’” Witkoff said. “I wish people could see people from Qatar hugging people from Israel. And by the way, it happened with the Turks too, and it happened with the Egyptians, which sort of, I don’t know, makes you feel a whole lot better about what the possibilities are for the world.”

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal on Oct. 8, about two years after the war began in 2023. 

Before the episode aired, Israel accused Hamas of reportedly violating the ceasefire agreement which caused the agreement to briefly falter before resuming.