A meeting between Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ended, the premier’s spokesperson has told the BBC. Kushner arrived in Israel on Sunday night after holding rare talks with Hamas to discuss the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan.
Last week, Israel rejected Trump’s 15-point plan for peace, which also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and for Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration.
The rejection came after the president’s Board of Peace said it had reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza last month.
Trump leads the Board of Peace, which was created as an international organisation originally intended to bring peace to Gaza, but later expanded to include conflicts worldwide.
According to Israeli media reports, Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blairare also meeting Netanyahu on Monday, with the aim of advancing Trump’s plan.
In a phone interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump is reported to have said that Hamas “are giving up their guns” and that Israel should not be carrying out strikes in Gaza. The US outlet did not elaborate further on his comments.
Many Israelis remain sceptical that Hamas is ready to disarm.
The US-led Board of Peace wants to show that the peace plan for Gaza can still move forward – despite Netanyahu’s firm rejection of a new roadmap.
Hamas has agreed to give up its weapons in exchange for a phased Israeli troop withdrawal. But Israel has insisted that Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli pullout.
It also wants any weapons that Hamas gives up to be destroyed, rather than stored by a Palestinian technocratic committee, so that Hamas cannot reclaim them.
In addition, there is opposition to Turkey and Qatar being involved in checks on whether Hamas is meeting its requirements under the deal.
Pushing Netanyahu to change his position will be an uphill struggle.
He has appeared increasingly willing to defy the US – his country’s closest ally – as his party struggles in polls ahead of October’s Israeli general election, and with members of his governing coalition pushing for a tougher strategy in Gaza.
The far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for nightly “targeted eliminations” of “30 or 40” people in Gaza.
In a podcast interview with Rom Braslavski, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the 7 October attack, that aired on 15 August, Ben-Gvir said: “Not just those who pose an immediate threat – there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.” The comments were reported by the Associated Press, the Financial Times and the Times of Israel.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting between Kushner and Netanyahu, a Palestinian official told the BBC that Trump’s son-in-law met a delegation led by Hamas’s new leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday.
In a statement, Hamas later called on mediators and the Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to approve the roadmap for the next steps.
Kushner’s meeting with Hayya is believed to be the first at this level since last year’s agreement of a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip.
Mladenov, high representative for Gaza to the Board of Peace, and Blair, a former UK prime minister, were also part of the meeting, alongside representatives of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have mediated in the peace efforts.
No official statement was released on the talks, reportedly focusing on concrete actions to decommission Hamas’s weapons, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian efforts.
A source with knowledge of the meeting told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that the meeting’s contents included “beginning to transfer all governing responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ensuring Hamas has no future governing role in Gaza, facilitating Israeli withdrawals and deploying an international stabilising force to the region”.
Also on Sunday, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia said Israel’s rejection of the US plan threatened Trump’s peace efforts.
Following Israel’s rejection of the plan, there appeared to be a pause in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, though attacks have still continued.
The ceasefire, which came into effect on 10 October last year, remains in place.
However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has carried out near daily strikes since then.
More than 1,200 people have been killed since the ceasefire according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. Unicef says at least 300 children have reportedly been killed.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad “terrorists” in Khan Younis and Nuseirat. Local medics said several people living in a tent camp in Khan Younis were injured.
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of ceasefire violations.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, including 21,280 children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The UN estimates that about 1.9 million people – 90% of Gaza’s population – have been displaced since the war started.
By BBC News
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