Kushner meets Hamas leaders on Gaza road map

Jared Kushner met with Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday in a rare direct diplomatic push to advance a U.S.-backed Gaza peace road map that calls for Hamas to disarm, Israel to withdraw and a new authority to take over governance of the territory.

Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East negotiator, met with Hamas’ Khalil al-Hayya as part of talks meant to turn the plan into “concrete, verifiable steps,” CBS News reported, citing a source with knowledge of the meeting. The Associated Press confirmed the meeting through a regional official and a Hamas official, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The talks came a day before Kushner is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week rejected the 15-point plan and said Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed. NPR reported that Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Nickolay Mladenov, director of the U.S.-created Board of Peace overseeing the ceasefire, are set to meet Netanyahu on Monday.

The road map seeks to preserve the ceasefire, transfer governing duties to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ensure Hamas has no future governing role, facilitate Israeli withdrawals and deploy an international stabilization force. Under the plan, Hamas would hand over weapons to a Palestinian technocratic committee meant to oversee daily operations in Gaza, while Israeli forces would halt attacks and begin pulling back as disarmament proceeds.

Trump said last month that the Board of Peace had reached a “HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.” A source with knowledge of Sunday’s meeting told CBS News that progress requires no ambiguity: Hamas must give up governing authority, weapons and military infrastructure, and Gaza must never again be a source of terror for Israel.

The Hamas official told NPR the group is committed to the road map and is waiting for mediators to begin a 14-day negotiation period to set an implementation timetable. That period requires approval of the road map by all parties. The official also said al-Hayya demanded that Israel stop attacks on Gaza and withdraw to the so-called “yellow line” before implementation begins. NPR reported that the line was never precisely defined, and that Israeli forces have moved beyond it and now control about 60% of Gaza.

Several regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, condemned Israel’s rejection of the road map ahead of Kushner’s expected talks with Netanyahu. In a statement also signed by Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and ceasefire mediators, foreign ministers said “Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza.” They urged the Board of Peace and the U.S. to take “immediate and concrete measures” to prevent any party from blocking implementation.

Netanyahu’s Likud party responded Sunday by claiming that “Arab states want to topple” Netanyahu so that centrist challenger Gadi Eisenkot and center-left party leader Yair Golan “will give them everything they want. That will not happen.”

The White House referred questions about Kushner’s meetings to the Board of Peace, NPR reported. The board did not immediately comment, and the Tony Blair Institute also did not comment.

The conflict began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Since the current ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025, Israel has continued firing on Gaza and killed more than 1,200 people, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry.