Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ‘confirm Israel’s compliance’ with phase one of Trump peace deal in Gaza visit

Witkoff and Kushner appeared alongside Ivanka Trump – Kushner’s wife and the president’s daughter – in a public appearance in Tel Aviv yesterday night. Addressing Israelis gathered in Hostages Square, Kushner spoke of learning of the October 7 massacres while attending a friend’s wedding in Colorado. Witnessing the “barbaric acts” committed in real-time online moved him to tears and “shocked me to my core”, he said. 

To applause, Kushner also acknowledged the suffering endured by Gazans. Most of the population, he said, had experienced the ordeal of war “through no fault of their own, other than being born into a situation that was horrific”. 

He also paid tribute to his father-in-law for his efforts in ending the war, saying: “Thank you President Trump for your commitment to bring this horrible conflict to an end.”

Commenting on Witkoff’s and Kushner’s visit, the IDF said: “This meeting serves as another reinforcement of the close, strategic and operational relationship between the IDF and the US military.

It added that, as part of ongoing co-ordination efforts, it has remained in “continuous contact” with Central Command – which oversees US military operations and security interests in areas including the Middle East –  regarding the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza deal “in a manner that ensures the continued security of the State of Israel.”

Early on Friday morning, the Israeli cabinet approved the first stage of the US-brokered plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza and securing the return of the 48 hostages held in Hamas captivity.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Palestinian terrorist organisation has committed to freeing all hostages, living and dead, within 72 hours.

Central Command confirmed on Friday that the IDF “completed the first phase withdrawal to the yellow line at 12 pm local time,” Witkoff wrote on X, adding that “the 72-hour period to release the hostages has begun.”

The "yellow line” line was featured on a map released by the White House last week marking where Israeli troops would withdraw to during this phase of the ceasefire agreement, where it would control 53 per cent of Gaza.

After the first phase is completed, Trump’s 20-point plan is to move to a second phase, in which Gaza is to be de-radicalised and demilitarised.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said he has instructed the military to prepare for the destruction of Hamas’s terror tunnels, calling it the “primary meaning of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarising Gaza and disarming Hamas.”

The extensive network of tunnels will be destroyed “directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism that will be established under the leadership and supervision of the US,” said Katz.

Additional reporting by Katie Grant