Hamas expects Kushner meeting as US advances Gaza peace plan
Hamas sources said on Sunday that the group expected to meet in Egypt with U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner, as the Trump administration seeks to advance a Gaza peace plan that has been rejected by Israel.
Two weeks after Hamas publicly accepted the latest phase of the agreement, Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump's son-in-law, flew to Egypt ahead of expected talks in Jerusalem on Monday. Mediators reportedly informed Hamas that Kushner would hold a meeting with its leadership, with Egyptian and Qatari officials present, before travelling to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Cairo, Kushner met with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza high representative in Trump's 'Board of Peace' established to implement the deal. Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya was also in Egypt, having travelled to El-Alamein on Saturday in his first trip since assuming leadership of the Gaza-based movement last month.
A second Hamas source said the United States had sought clarifications on several points, including 'genuine, rather than merely symbolic, collection, consolidation and storage of weapons, as well as Hamas's complete relinquishment of governance of Gaza.'
On July 30, Hamas said it would hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body as part of the latest stage in a ceasefire declared by Trump, who called the agreement a 'major milestone.' Netanyahu, however, who faces a tough re-election battle in October, rejected the agreement and expressed doubt that Hamas would give up its weapons.
Netanyahu voiced opposition even after Mladenov assured him that Israel would not need to withdraw troops from Gaza until Hamas fully disarmed. The Board of Peace had initially said Israel would begin a phased withdrawal in tandem with disarmament.
The United States had for years refused contact with Hamas, which it designates as a terrorist organisation and which led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. But the Trump administration has increasingly engaged directly with the group in an effort to end the devastating conflict, negotiating the October ceasefire that led to the release of remaining Israeli hostages.
There was no immediate confirmation of a Kushner-Hamas meeting by the United States. A Board of Peace official earlier said that Kushner and Mladenov hoped for 'constructive conversations' with Netanyahu, and that 'the United States and Israel agree on the end state, which is a demilitarised Hamas.'
Kushner also discussed the Gaza plan with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with a presidential spokesperson saying the meeting 'emphasised the need for all parties to fulfil their obligations under the Gaza Strip ceasefire agreement.'
Meanwhile, al-Hayya met with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and 'reaffirmed commitment' to the Trump plan, according to Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency. A Hamas official told AFP the delegation would brief Egypt on Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza after a lull following Trump's promotion of the peace plan. On Sunday, several people were injured after Israeli aircraft targeted a house west of Nuseirat, according to Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency. The Israeli military said it was responding to a threat by Islamic Jihad militants and that it tried to mitigate civilian harm.
