US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner has arrived in Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the BBC reports.
The visit follows Kushner’s talks with Hamas to discuss the implementation of a US-backed peace plan. In July, Trump’s peace council announced a deal with Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza on complete disarmament, but last week Israel said it would not accept the 15-point peace plan. It also calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories and the reconstruction of Gaza under a new Palestinian administration.
On the 16th of August, eight Muslim countries issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s failure to cooperate. Hamas, in turn, called on the mediators and the Board of Peace to persuade Israel to approve guidelines for the next steps towards peace.
A Palestinian official told the BBC that Kushner met with a Hamas delegation in Egypt on the 16th of August.
Netanyahu faces a tough election in October that will determine whether he can hold on to power.
Many Israelis are skeptical that Hamas would actually disarm. Kushner’s meeting with the Hamas leader is the first such high-level talks since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip last year. The meeting was reportedly attended by the Board of Peace’s envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Egypt, Qatar and Turkey were also represented. There has been no official statement on the results of the meeting, but unofficial information suggests that specific steps were discussed for laying down arms, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army and the provision of humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu has indicated that the implementation of the peace plan requires the complete disarmament of Hamas. He announced that Israel rejects the Board of Peace’s 15-point peace plan, and the Israeli army will not leave Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed. Netanyahu is feeling pressure from his cabinet, which wants to continue military operations in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the Board of Peace plan unacceptable in August.
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