Full story
Kushner heads to talks
The United States is considering sending presidential envoy Jared Kushner to Israel and Egypt to discuss how to implement a peace plan for the Gaza Strip after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the latest proposal to end the war.
“Such a trip is being discussed”
An American official told AFP that "Such a trip is being discussed" and said "The United States and Israel agree on the desired outcome in Gaza," while Netanyahu insisted that Israel would not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas’s weapons are fully dismantled.
Jared Kushner, accompanied by Peace Council officials including High Representative Nikolai Miladinov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was described as heading to Israel and Egypt next week to push efforts to fix a ceasefire in Gaza and salvage a roadmap Netanyahu rejected.
The visit was framed as coming after Netanyahu rejected a 15-item roadmap approved by the Peace Council and supported by Hamas and backed directly by President Trump, who called it a "huge achievement."
Rift, roadmap, and strikes
The Associated Press quoted a Peace Council official saying Kushner would arrive in Israel on Sunday accompanied by Nikolai Miladinov and Tony Blair, before traveling to Cairo to complete consultations on the future governing of the Gaza Strip.
The same account said the delegation’s meetings reflect insistence on proceeding with a plan aimed at achieving "peace, security and sustainable prosperity" in the Gaza Strip, based on disarming it, creating conditions for reconstruction, and transferring administration of the sector to an alternative Palestinian authority from Hamas.
In parallel with the political dispute, Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security said on Thursday that the head of Gaza governorate police, Gamal Abu Kamil, was martyred in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his vehicle on al-Rasheed Street in the south-west of Gaza City.
Hamas stated the operation reflects Israel’s adherence to policies that would prolong the war and deepen the humanitarian crisis and create chaos in the sector, and the article added that Health Ministry data in Gaza indicate that Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement signed in October 2025 left 1,260 Palestinians martyred and 4,154 others injured as of yesterday.
Hardline calls and medical stakes
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for targeted killings in Gaza in a podcast, saying, "I think targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, with 30 to 40 being taken out each night."
“with 30 to 40 being taken out each night”
In the same interview, Ben-Gvir said, "They are not even human," while also arguing that the Gaza Strip should belong to Israel and calling for mass emigration of Palestinians from Gaza.
On the humanitarian front, TRT World reported that Palestinian cancer patients are dying at two to three times the pace they did before the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, after Israel destroyed Gaza's specialised cancer hospital last year.
TRT World quoted Palestinian mother-of-two Khuloud Abu Sahmoud, 33, saying, "Every day my disease progresses, and my condition is tragic. My fingernails have all fallen out — I have none left. I am just waiting to die."
