Still, Witkoff went back to the importance of understanding Hamas’s motivations.

“You have to know what Hamas wants…
and then you’ve got to figure out what you can give them that allows them to walk out because that’s what’s needed here,”

“What we heard in the beginning of this conflict is Hamas is ideological, that they’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons.

I personally — and I talk to the president about this… I said to him, ‘I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in’.
They’re not ideologically intractable. I never believed that,” Witkoff maintained.

“They strap the suicide vest onto young kids who don’t know what they’re doing… They tell them a story.
“Once you understand that [Hamas] wanted to live, then you were able to talk to them in a more effective way,” he argued.

Pressed on how he reached this conclusion about Hamas, Witkoff said he has read lots of US intelligence reports and also felt “the rhythm and the cadence of the negotiation.” “That’s when I came to the conclusion that they wanted alternatives,” he said.