Trump envoy Kushner meets Hamas leader to push Gaza peace plan

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Trump envoy Kushner meets Hamas leader to push Gaza peace plan Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The UN estimates that about 1.9 million people - 90% of Gaza's population - have been displaced since the war started By AndrÃ© Rhoden-Paul Published 2 minutes ago US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jared Kushner has held rare talks with Hamas to discuss the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan. A Palestinian official told the BBC Trump's son-in-law met a delegation led by Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday. Last month, Trump's Board of Peace said it had reached agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed group in Gaza. Last week, Israel rejected Trump's 15-point plan which also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and for Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration. Eight Muslim countries issued a statement on Sunday condemning Israel's rejection. Trump leads the Board of Peace - created as an international organisation originally intended to bring peace to Gaza, but later expanded to include conflicts worldwide. Kushner's meeting with Hayya is said to be the first at this level since last year's agreement of a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip. According to reports, Board of Peace envoys Nickolai Mladenov and UK ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair were also apart of the meeting - alongside representatives of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have mediated in the peace efforts. No official statement has been released of the talks reportedly focusing on concrete actions to decommission Hamas's weapons - as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian efforts. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Jared Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday Whilst in Egypt, Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to Israeli media reports, Kushner, Mladenov and Blair will meet Netanyahu on Monday with the aim of advancing Trump's plan. The Israeli prime minister has said he wants a full Hamas disarmament first in order to implement the deal. "Israel rejects the Board of Peace's 15-point document on Gaza. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed," Netanyahu said last week defying Israel's closest ally. In a joint statement on Sunday, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia said Israel's rejection of the US plan threatened Trump's efforts for peace. The ceasefire, which came into effect on 10 October last year, remains in place. However, the Israel Defense Forces have carried out several strikes in Gaza since then - the latest on "terrorists" in Khan Yunis and Nuseirat areas of Gaza - accusing Hamas of breaking the truce. 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, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The UN estimates that about 1.9 million people - 90% of Gaza's population - have been displaced since the war started. Related topics Israel Gaza Middle East Israel-Gaza war Benjamin Netanyahu Donald Trump More on this story Netanyahu's rejection of Trump's 15-point Gaza plan unlikely to be final word Published 6 days ago Who is on Trump's 'Board of Peace' overseeing Gaza's reconstruction? Published 17 January Hamas names Khalil al-Hayya as new overall leader Published 20 July

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Watchdog assessment and method

The headline editorialises, the legal stakes go unmentioned, and the military's claims carry no caveat.

The double standard

The article names the actor and provides a military rationale when reporting Israeli strikes in Gaza, but strips the actor from the Hamas attack's death toll, leaving the 1,200 Israeli deaths in an agentless construction while the 73,000 Palestinian deaths are attributed to a named Israeli military campaign.

How it builds, in Casualty paragraph: Hamas attack and Israeli campaign deaths side by side

Israeli deaths: no actor named in the killing clause
about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage
Agentless passive; Hamas not named as killer
Hamas named as trigger but not as killer
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023
Actor named for causation, withheld for the act of killing
Palestinian deaths: Israel named as actor via campaign
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed
Named actor, active construction, causal chain explicit
Palestinian death toll sourced and validated
according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN
Source named and credibility affirmed by UN
IDF target label quoted without scare quotes on accusation
the latest on "terrorists" in Khan Yunis and Nuseirat areas of Gaza - accusing Hamas of breaking the truce
Israeli military framing reproduced; accusation attributed but not challenged

The same decision, both sides

Whether the actor is named in the clause describing the killing

Hamas's killing of 1,200 Israelis is rendered in an agentless passive, with Hamas named only as the trigger of the war, not as the agent of the deaths.

about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage

Israel's killing of 73,000 Palestinians is rendered with Israel named as the actor who launched the campaign during which the deaths occurred.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed

Whether a source is named and its credibility affirmed for the death toll

The 1,200 Israeli death figure is given without any named source or credibility qualifier.

about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage

The 73,000 Palestinian death figure is attributed to the health ministry and its reliability is explicitly endorsed by the UN.

more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN

Whether Israeli military target designations are reproduced without scrutiny

Israeli strikes are described using the IDF's own label for their targets, with the accusation against Hamas noted but not interrogated.

the latest on "terrorists" in Khan Yunis and Nuseirat areas of Gaza - accusing Hamas of breaking the truce

Hamas's claim that Israel is breaking the truce by striking is not given equivalent space or framing alongside the IDF accusation.

However, the Israel Defense Forces have carried out several strikes in Gaza since then

What a reader is left with. A reader is left with the impression that Palestinian deaths have a clear, named perpetrator and a verified scale, while Israeli deaths simply happened, with no equivalent grammatical responsibility assigned to Hamas, subtly inverting the article's own asymmetry of accountability.

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