Kushner meets Hamas leaders to advance Gaza plan

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy and son-in-law, met Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday in a rare direct push to advance a US-backed plan for Gaza that Israel has rejected.

A Palestinian official told the BBC that Kushner met a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya. Diplomatic sources told AFP that Hamas reiterated its commitment to the agreement, while Kushner pressed for disarmament and an end to any future Hamas role in governing Gaza. Hamas and the US envoy have not confirmed the meeting.

The talks reportedly included Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative of Trump’s Board of Peace, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is also a member of the board. Axios reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali Al Thawadi and a senior Turkish official also attended. A source told Axios the objective was “translating” Hamas’s disarmament “into concrete, verifiable steps.”

The Board of Peace said last month it had reached agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Trump leads the board, which was created as an international organisation initially intended to bring peace to Gaza and later expanded to address conflicts worldwide.

Trump’s 15-point plan calls for Hamas to disarm, Israeli troops to withdraw, military operations in Gaza to stop and the territory to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration. Netanyahu rejected the proposal last week, saying Israel would not withdraw until Hamas disarmed.

“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, according to the BBC.

Eight Muslim-majority countries condemned Israel’s rejection in a joint statement on Sunday. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia said Israel’s position threatened Trump’s efforts to achieve peace.

Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi while in Egypt, el-Sisi’s office said. Israeli media and a senior Israeli official said Kushner and Mladenov were expected to meet Netanyahu on Monday. The Israeli official also said Israel was concerned about Washington’s demand to end targeted assassinations of Hamas fighters in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.

The meeting was described by the BBC as the first at this level since last year’s ceasefire agreement for the Gaza Strip. The BBC reported that the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 last year and remains in place. Al Jazeera described it as an October 2025 “ceasefire” and reported that Israel has resumed air strikes in recent days after scaling back attacks earlier this month.

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out recent strikes on “terrorists” in Khan Younis and Nuseirat, accusing Hamas of violating the truce. Medics said at least five Palestinians were injured Sunday when an Israeli strike hit a tent encampment in Khan Younis, and that a separate strike on an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp wounded several people, Al Jazeera reported.

The war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable. Al Jazeera, citing Palestinian official sources, reported that more than 1,250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect, with the overall toll since October 2023 exceeding 73,300.

The United Nations estimates about 1.9 million people, or 90% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced since the war began.