U.S. peace envoy Jared Kushner has held talks with Hamas representatives in Egypt and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Israel and the U.S.-led Board of Peace then agreed to set up two working groups on Gaza.
Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, spent Sunday and Monday in the Middle East. As DR reports, he confirmed Monday evening that he had met both parties. The talks centered on Trump’s plan for the future of Gaza.
On Sunday, Kushner met a delegation led by Hamas’ new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, and later Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Times of Israel places the Hamas meeting in El-Alamein and adds that mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey took part. The same outlet reports that Hamas tied disarmament steps to a public commitment from Netanyahu to the U.S.-backed Gaza peace plan.
Monday’s meeting in Jerusalem lasted several hours. Netanyahu’s office described deep and constructive discussions with Kushner and the Board of Peace, without naming the participants. According to The Guardian and Times of Israel, Board of Peace figures Tony Blair and Nickolay Mladenov also attended.
Two working groups agreed
Per the statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, one group will handle the disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza. Israel and the Board of Peace want that work completed before any reconstruction begins. The second group will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health problems affecting Gaza’s population.
The statement did not name the members of the groups or set a timetable. Jewish Insider reports that the groups were agreed after the meeting between Netanyahu, Kushner and Mladenov, who heads the Board of Peace.
In an interview with Fox News, Kushner said Hamas had said all the right things in Egypt, while stressing that a group responsible for such atrocities is very hard to trust. He said Washington wants a reconstruction plan but will not allow rebuilding before demilitarization. He added that progress could come within 30 days, including the removal of some weapons, and that filling in tunnels could begin within 60 to 90 days.
Accounts of the outcome differ. Reuters and The Guardian report that the talks ended without a breakthrough, with core disputes over disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal unresolved. A Board of Peace official cited by Reuters called the Netanyahu meeting very productive and said no Israeli redeployment will occur until Hamas is fully disarmed.
Al Jazeera notes that the trip followed Netanyahu’s public rejection of the Board of Peace plan as unacceptable. Reuters and NPR report that the ceasefire’s second phase has stalled over Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s continued military presence in Gaza.
