"Just a day earlier, Ben-Gvir led a group of Jewish worshippers in prayer on the Temple Mount, the flashpoint site in Jerusalem that also houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, and called for "total victory" in Gaza. Now he was sitting with his fellow ministers to discuss how to bring to an end two years of hostilities that had reduced much of Gaza to a charred wasteland-but had left Hamas still standing."
"At Netanyahu's invitation, both Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend and special envoy, were in attendance. They had traveled to Israel from the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in Egypt, where they spent Wednesday toiling over a one-page document distilling the terms of an initial cease-fire and prisoner swap that could satisfy both Israel and Hamas."
"Ben-Gvir turned to the two Americans and told them that they would never agree to such a deal for their own country-one that frees prisoners held for acts of violence against Israeli citizens and could eventually grant amnesty to members of a terrorist group responsible for the deadliest attack in the nation's history. Witkoff, a New York real-estate investor tapped by Trump"
Israeli ministers convened to consider a Trump-mediated first-stage peace deal offering a cease-fire and prisoner swap. Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had recently prayed on the Temple Mount and called for "total victory" in Gaza, angrily criticized terms that free prisoners and could grant amnesty to members of Hamas. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff attended after working in Sinai to distill a one-page plan acceptable to both sides. Witkoff described forgiving the family of a drug dealer who sold the OxyContin that killed his son, becoming emotional, while Ben-Gvir remained unmoved and emphasized Hamas's lack of repentance. The cabinet approved initial phases, including an IDF pullback.
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