Steven Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, recently shared his personal reflections on the efforts that led to the ceasefire and hostage release agreement that took effect on Sunday. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News, he spoke about his role in facilitating the deal.

Witkoff described the emotional moment when he saw the first photographs of the three hostages released on Sunday afternoon, reunited with their families. “I myself had tears in my eyes when I saw the pictures. As a family member, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for these parents to have welcomed back their daughters and knowing that they weren’t going to lose their children.”

He continued by saying that President Trump also shared a deep sense of fulfillment upon seeing the images of the hostages being reunited with their families. “He felt like his mandate saved lives today.”

Witkoff went on to emphasize the meaningfulness of his involvement, describing the experience as incredibly rewarding. “This was a worthy project, a worthy effort to work on, but this made it feel so rewarding,” he said. He added that seeing the joy of the parents as their children returned safely gave him a sense of accomplishment, stating, “to me, felt like a job well done.”

Although Witkoff was asked about whether there had been any assurances made to Israeli officials regarding a resumption of military action in Gaza following the ceasefire, he chose not to address the question directly, simply noting that the ceasefire “speaks for itself.”

When discussing his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Witkoff recalled the focus of their conversation: “We had a discussion with the prime minister about how we needed to get focused in a short period of time and get organized so that we could get to the finish line.” He added that the crucial turning point was when Netanyahu instructed his team to be “proactive” in moving forward with the deal.

Witkoff refrained from commenting on whether he exerted pressure on Israel or Hamas during the negotiations, stating, “I think President Trump gave me the directive to push forward a deal if a deal was attainable. And so we needed to create the incentives for both parties to push forward and get that deal done.”

Reflecting on the positive outcome, Witkoff shared his belief in the deep significance of the deal for Israel. “I think the incentives [for Israel] were to get these people home. Look at how wondrous it was today, how joyous it was. It felt spiritual, like people were home again,” he said. “I believe that Israel is approaching this agreement in good faith. They wanted the hostages back.”

{Matzav.com Israel}