Kushner Meets Hamas Leader in Egypt to Advance Gaza Peace Plan

Jared Kushner met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday, marking the highest-level direct talks between the Trump administration and the militant group since negotiations helped secure a ceasefire in October, according to reporting by BBC News and NPR. The meeting took place as the administration attempts to salvage a U.S.-backed road map that calls for Hamas to disarm in Gaza and Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory.

Kushner attended the talks alongside fellow envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister, with representatives from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey also present, per BBC News. The sessions focused on concrete actions to decommission Hamas weapons, Israeli troop withdrawal, and humanitarian relief efforts, according to the reporting.

The road map at the center of these talks involves Hamas gradually surrendering weapons while Israeli forces halt attacks and begin withdrawing from Gaza, according to NPR. Under the plan, Hamas would hand over weapons to a Palestinian technocratic committee meant to oversee daily operations in the territory. That committee has not yet entered Gaza. The road map also involves reconstruction of the enclave and deployment of international forces to separate Israeli and Palestinian-controlled areas.

Last week, Israel rejected the 15-point plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, per BBC News, "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's position insists on complete disarmament before any Israeli retreat, whereas the road map calls for simultaneous, gradual steps by both sides.

Hamas has signaled a different sequence. According to NPR, a Hamas official said the group is committed and waiting for mediators to begin a 14-day negotiation period to work out an implementation timeline. The same official said Hamas demanded that Israel halt its attacks and withdraw to the so-called "yellow line" dividing the territory before implementation begins. That boundary was never precisely defined, and Israeli forces now control roughly 60% of Gaza, per NPR. In May, Netanyahu stated Israel's next step was to move to 70% control, with Israel "tightening the grip" on Hamas from every direction, according to NPR.

Hamas has also linked the surrender of its heaviest weapons to the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel's current government rejects, according to NPR. Netanyahu faces a challenging election on Oct. 27 and leads a coalition that includes ministers taking a harsh line on Gaza, which constrains his political room to concede, per NPR.

On Sunday, eight Muslim-majority nations, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's rejection, saying Israel "now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza" and called on the Board of Peace and the U.S. to take "immediate and concrete measures" to prevent obstruction, according to NPR. Netanyahu's Likud party dismissed the statement, claiming, per NPR, that Arab states want to remove Netanyahu and install "centrist challenger Gadi Eisenkot and center-left party leader Yair Golan" to gain more favorable terms.

According to Israeli media reports cited by BBC News, Kushner, Mladenov, and Blair are scheduled to meet Netanyahu on Monday to advance Trump's plan. The White House referred questions about Kushner's meetings to the Board of Peace, which did not immediately comment, per NPR.