President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has re-entered the geopolitical arena, landing in Egypt on Wednesday along with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The presence of Kushner – who has largely stayed out of the White House during Trump’s second term and has no official role in the administration after previously serving as a senior adviser to Trump – signals that the US is “serious” about striking a deal between Hamas and Israel that would end the two-year war and return all 48 hostages.
The official said the White House is “grateful” for his expertise in its efforts to broker a deal and end the war this week, and remains “cautiously optimistic” that an agreement will be reached.
ISRAEL AND HAMAS TOGETHER IN EGYPT TO REGISTER TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN BY OCTOBER 7
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (R) and Jared Kushner await the arrival of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, on July 13, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“To bring him in now, I think, signals that, number one, the Trump administration is really committed to making some progress here. Number two, they’re bringing some pretty serious firepower to make some deals,” Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow and director of the Hudson Institute’s Keystone Defense Initiative, told Fox and Friends on Wednesday morning.
“It’s promising that Jared is here,” Heinrichs added, noting his prominent role in securing the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration.
Reports on Wednesday suggested the pair plan to remain in Egypt along with other mediating countries, including Qatar, for as long as it takes to reach a deal.
Their arrival marked the third day of serious negotiations after Israeli and Hamas officials met Monday in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm El Sheikh, located at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
The negotiations began after Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan late last month to end the war and return the hostages within 72 hours of a deal being finalized.
TRUMP’S PEACE DEAL COULD END THE WAR IN GAZA OR NETANYAHU’S CAREER
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin talks with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Shortly afterwards, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the terms before Trump pressured Hamas to respond.
Hamas appeared to accept most of the proposal over the weekend, although it revealed problems with certain elements of the 20-point blueprint, including the rapid return of all hostages, especially the deceased hostages, who some say are buried under rubble and therefore cannot be quickly recovered.
Reports also suggested that Hamas had objected to calls to fully disarm the country, highlighting distrust that Israel would fulfill its promise by ending its military ambitions in the Gaza Strip once all hostages are returned.
Smoke rises from Gaza City, seen from Deir al Balah, after intense Israeli military attacks on northern Gaza, on October 5, 2025. (Khames Alrefi/Getty Images)
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Netanyahu faces a precarious political front at home with enormous public frustration over his inability to return the hostages, but also within his own coalition, which sees his negotiations with Hamas as a concession and collapse of his previously stated security goals.
