Jared Kushner to visit Israel and Egypt next week with Board of Peace officials to talk Gaza
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- Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week alongside Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov and executive board member Tony Blair to advance an end to the Gaza conflict after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition.
- The Board of Peace delegation arrives in Israel on Sunday before traveling to Cairo, where a Palestinian technocratic group has been meeting for several months to prepare to assume control of Gaza under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.
- Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the deal, saying Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed — a rare public display of friction between Israel and the Trump administration.
- Hamas accepted the plan to decommission its weapons, but the October ceasefire that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages has stalled on other fronts.
- A Board of Peace official said the meetings would demonstrate the determination of Trump and the board "to see peace, prosperity and sustainable security emerge" in a demilitarized Gaza where Hamas has ceded control.
- The agreement had been seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza, building on the October ceasefire that ended major military operations and secured the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Why it matters: Netanyahu's public rejection of the Trump-brokered disarmament-withdrawal sequencing has stalled a ceasefire framework Hamas already accepted; Kushner's three-country mission with Blair and Mladenov is a direct attempt to keep the deal alive while Israel publicly withholds its cooperation.
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