Kushner talks with Israel, Hamas end without breakthrough on Trump Gaza plan

Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday wrapped up two days of meetings with Israeli and Hamas leaders to break a stalemate over the US President’s Gaza plan, but no breakthrough appeared imminent as both sides dug in.

The meeting came two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump’s Gaza plan, which Netanyahu has refused to support, insisting any settlement must ensure the group is “genuinely disarmed”.

Kushner met Netanyahu in Israel a day after meeting Hamas’ political leader in Egypt to revive the plan, which has stalled as Israel has carried out air strikes and grabbed more territory in Gaza despite an October ceasefire, while Hamas has also refused to give up its weapons.

Two sources said Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu lasted several hours.

Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on Trump’s “Board of Peace” implementing the plan, was also in attendance. Israeli media reported that former UK prime minister Tony Blair, now a senior Board of Peace official, would also attend.

An Israeli official indicated that there was no breakthrough in the meeting, saying Netanyahu had made it clear the military would not withdraw from a demarcation line set out in an October ceasefire and would continue to carry out operations in Gaza as it sees necessary, including targeting those who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The official added that Netanyahu and Kushner agreed in the meeting that the reconstruction of Gaza would not begin until Hamas was fully disarmed, including of light weapons.

In a statement that characterised the meeting as “deep and constructive”, the prime minister’s office said that Israel and the Board of Peace believe that Gaza’s disarmament should be “prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens”.

It also said that Netanyahu had agreed with the Board of Peace to establish a working group on disarmament and demilitarisation, and another working group that focuses on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues in Gaza.

Hamas has demanded Israel adhere to the ceasefire, while both sides have disputed the sequencing of how Trump’s plan to end the war would be implemented.

Over 1,200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military.

There was no immediate comment from the Board of Peace.

A day prior, Kushner met Hamas’ new leader Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El-Alamein on Sunday, sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP.

Kushner demanded that the group verify it is giving up its weapons, a key sticking point for Netanyahu, and that Hamas renounce any future role in governing the Palestinian territory, the sources said.

A Hamas official said the group told Kushner it was committed to the Gaza plan and wanted pressure on Netanyahu.

“Hamas is demanding that the US administration … pressure Netanyahu’s government to adhere to and implement the roadmap agreement. Hamas is awaiting the US administration’s response regarding Israel’s position on the agreement,” the Hamas official told AFP.

The Trump administration has become increasingly comfortable with engaging directly with Hamas in the hope of ending the devastating conflict, and negotiated the October ceasefire agreement that led to the release of remaining Israeli hostages.

Hardline rhetoric

Netanyahu, who is facing elections in October that polls show will be tight, has increasingly been willing to defy Trump, whose support he once highlighted in his campaign.

The prime minister has also made clear his unhappiness with Trump’s decision to halt the US-Israeli war on Iran launched in late February and instead pursue a settlement with Tehran’s clerical leaders.

After initially voicing muted criticism of the Gaza plan, Netanyahu last week told his cabinet that he rejected it and vowed not to pull troops from the Palestinian territory.

The stance came even though Mladenov had assured him that Israel would not need to withdraw until a full disarmament by Hamas, backtracking on the Board of Peace’s earlier calls for Israel to start a phased withdrawal.

In an interview, Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right national security minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet, called for mass killings in Gaza.

“I think targeted eliminations should be carried out in Gaza every night. Take out 30 or 40,” Ben Gvir said on a podcast with a former Gaza hostage.

“Not only those who endanger you right now. These are people who shouldn’t be alive,” he said. “I’m paying them a compliment by calling them humans.”

On Sunday, eight Muslim-majority countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates condemned Israel’s rejection of the Gaza plan in a joint statement.

Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza after a lull following Trump’s promotion of the peace plan, although the October ceasefire had never fully halted the violence in the Strip.

Israel has killed at least 1,265 Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, according to figures by Gaza’s health ministry.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during Gaza operations over the same period.