Asked about his January 11 meeting with Netanyahu, which Arab officials familiar told The Times of Israel was critical in bringing the deal over the finish line because of the pressure that Witkoff placed on the premier, the Mideast envoy declines to disclose too many details.

“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 convened what looked to me like maybe 9, 10, 11 of the top commanders in the Israeli armed forces.
He gave direction to his team to be very proactive, and that was the difference maker,” Witkoff says.

“President Trump gave me the directive… to push forward a deal if a deal was attainable.
We needed to create the incentives for both parties to push forward and get that deal done,” he continues.

Netanyahu has reportedly told coalition partners that those incentives came in the form of US assurances that Israel can resume fighting after the first phase of the deal, which would appear to be a violation of its terms.