US Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, in an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, shared how a personal bond grew between them and leader of the Hamas terrorist organization Khalil al-Hayya.
Witkoff shared how, during a meeting in Egypt, he and the terrorist leader bonded over the loss of their sons. While Wikoff's son died of an opioid overdose at the age of 22, al-Hayya's son was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Hamas leader in Doha, Qatar.
“We expressed our condolences to him for the loss of his son. He mentioned it. And I told him that I had lost a son, and that we were both members of a really bad club, parents who have buried children,” said Witkoff.
Kushner added, “What I saw at that moment was very interesting. You had-- we go into a room and you have the Qataris, the Turks, and the Egyptians. And then we meet the four representatives of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization. And I'm looking at these guys and I'm thinking these are hardened guys who have been through two years of war. They've obviously, you know-- they-- they green-lit an assault that raped and murdered and did some of the most barbaric things. They've been holding hostages while Gaza's been, you know, bombed. And they've withstood all the suffering."
"But when Steve and him spoke about their sons, it turned from a negotiation with a terrorist group to seeing two human beings kind of showing a vulnerability with each other.”