Kushner Meets Hamas Leader to Salvage Rejected Gaza Plan
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- Jared Kushner met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday in the first talks at this level since the October ceasefire, alongside Board of Peace envoys Tony Blair and Nickolai Mladenov and representatives of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
- Israel rejected the 15-point plan last week, with Netanyahu declaring the IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is "genuinely disarmed" and defying its closest ally.
- Eight Muslim-majority countries — Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia — issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning Israel's rejection and warning it threatens Trump's peace efforts.
- Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and is scheduled to meet Netanyahu on Monday with Blair and Mladenov.
- The undisclosed talks reportedly focused on decommissioning Hamas weapons, Israeli troop withdrawal, and humanitarian efforts, with no official statement released.
- The October 10 ceasefire remains technically in place, though the IDF has carried out multiple strikes since, including in Khan Yunis and Nuseirat, accusing Hamas of breaking the truce.
- Gaza's health ministry reports more than 73,000 killed and the UN estimates 1.9 million displaced (90% of the population) since the war began October 7, 2023.
- Trump's Board of Peace — initially created for Gaza and later expanded worldwide — said last month it had reached agreement for "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
Why it matters: Israel's rejection of the 15-point plan triggered a rare joint rebuke from eight Muslim-majority states, warning it threatens Trump's peace framework. Kushner is now shuttling between Hamas in Cairo and Netanyahu to salvage the plan, while the October 10 ceasefire — still nominally in force — has been repeatedly violated by IDF strikes despite Netanyahu's public demands for disarmament before any withdrawal.
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