Kushner meets with Netanyahu after rare Hamas talks over stalled Gaza plan
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after rare talks with the leader of Hamas, in a new push to revive the peace plan for Gaza that Israel has rejected.
Read more Melania Trump keeps a much lower public profile in her second term as first lady
As the U.S. tries to advance the fragile ceasefire brokered in October, Kushner met with a delegation led by Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Sunday, a Hamas official briefed on the matter told NBC News.
Details of Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu were not immediately clear.
The U.S. and Israel have shown rare public divisions over the road map for the future of the Palestinian enclave, as well as the Israeli government’s approach to a mounting crisis in the occupied West Bank.
- Add to Google
The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Netanyahu faces growing domestic pressure ahead of October elections, including from the far-right faction upon which his fragile coalition government relies.
Read more The 60-day deadline for an Iran peace deal is expiring. Here’s where things stand.
Powerful National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned efforts toward peace over the weekend and called for the “targeted” killing of “30 or 40” people in Gaza every night.
Netanyahu earlier this month rejected the 15-point plan, which requires Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, with the Israeli leader vowing there would be no military pull-out until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed.”
Hamas on Monday welcomed a joint statement from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemning Israel’s rejection of the road map.
Read more Starved of air defenses, Ukraine’s cities and civilians are increasingly vulnerable
