Kushner leaves Jerusalem without breakthrough in Gaza talks

Jerusalem, Israel. Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner left Jerusalem on Monday without a breakthrough after two days of talks with Israeli and Hamas leaders on a stalled US plan to end the war in Gaza. Israel and Hamas remained divided over key demands, including disarmament and Israeli military withdrawals.

Meetings with Netanyahu and Hamas

Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after holding talks with Hamas’ political leader in Egypt a day earlier, seeking to revive the plan.

The initiative has stalled as Israel continued air strikes and seized more territory in Gaza despite an October ceasefire, while Hamas refused to give up its weapons.

Trump announced last month that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms in phases under a 15-point roadmap proposed by his Board of Peace, as Israel’s military withdrew from Gaza. Hamas said it had accepted the roadmap but that implementation depended on Israel first fulfilling its commitments, including ending attacks and withdrawing.

Israeli conditions

Netanyahu rejected the deal this month, saying Israel would not withdraw until Hamas was completely disarmed. His ruling coalition is trailing in opinion polls ahead of an October national election.

An official from Trump’s Board of Peace said Kushner and Netanyahu agreed there would be “no redeployment” of Israeli forces until Hamas was fully disarmed and Gaza was demilitarised.

The official said this required the removal of every light and heavy weapon and every tunnel. Israel would retain the right of self-defence and could “act accordingly” if Hamas resorted to violence, terror or attempts to rearm, the official said.

Hamas commitments and reconstruction

The Board of Peace official said Netanyahu had been told that Hamas committed to fully disarm and immediately cease all military activity, including rearmament and tunnel digging.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu made clear that Israeli troops would not withdraw and that the military would continue operations it considered necessary, including against Palestinian militants involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed that reconstruction in Gaza would not begin until Hamas was disarmed, the Israeli official said.

The meeting, attended by the Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov, a former United Nations official widely seen as leading efforts to implement the plan, lasted several hours, according to two sources.