Full story
Kushner meets Netanyahu
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday after holding rare talks with Hamas in Cairo the day before to push forward the U.S. Gaza plan.
“Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday”
Reuters said Kushner was joined in Jerusalem by Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, as Netanyahu’s ruling coalition trailed in Israeli opinion polls ahead of an October national election.
Reuters reported that Netanyahu publicly rejected this month a U.S.-backed agreement under which Hamas would surrender its arms in exchange for Israel withdrawing from Gaza, and that diplomats said Israel was unlikely to make major concessions over Gaza ahead of the October 27 election.
The Washington Post framed the effort as Kushner aiming “to salvage Gaza deal” after holding rare talks with Hamas in Egypt, while Reuters described the meeting as part of a bid to advance a stalled Gaza peace deal.
In the same Reuters account, Hamas last month agreed to a new U.S.-backed 15-point roadmap, while Israel rejected that roadmap and continued strikes on Gaza despite agreeing to a ceasefire as part of Trump’s plan.
Roadmap dispute deepens
The Jerusalem Post said Kushner, Board of Peace head Nikolay Mladenov, and Tony Blair met Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem to apply pressure on Israel to move forward with the next stage of the U.S. plan, including the 15-point document on disarming Hamas.
A senior Board of Peace official told The Jerusalem Post that the talks would focus on ways to accelerate implementation of Trump’s 20-point plan and that “the United States and Israel agreeing on the end state: a demilitarized Hamas.”
The BBC reported that Hamas later called on mediators and the Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to approve the roadmap for the next steps, while Netanyahu faced a tough October election and skepticism in Israel about whether Hamas is ready to disarm.
In the BBC account, Netanyahu said last week, “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed,” and the BBC described Israeli concerns about sequencing and about how weapons would be handled by a Palestinian technocratic committee.
The BBC also noted that eight Muslim countries issued a statement on Sunday condemning Israel’s rejection of the U.S. plan, and that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip has remained in place since 10 October last year.
What’s at stake next
The SRN News report said there is “a lot at stake, including the lives of some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza,” as Kushner met Netanyahu after the premier rejected the 15-point U.S.-backed road map to move the truce deal forward.
“a lot at stake, including the lives of some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza”
SRN News described Hamas as saying it has agreed to the road map and urging mediators and the U.S.-created Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to sign on as well, while Israel said Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal will occur.
The Washington Post described Kushner’s effort as coming after rare talks with Hamas in Egypt to advance a stalled Gaza peace deal, and Reuters said the roadmap is aimed at moving Trump’s plan forward through phases involving disarmament and withdrawals.
In the BBC account, a source with knowledge of the meeting said its 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.
The Reuters report added that there has been little progress so far, with Israel continuing to carry out strikes on Gaza despite agreeing to a ceasefire as part of Trump’s plan, leaving the roadmap’s implementation as the immediate pressure point ahead of the October 27 election.
