By Alexander Cornwell
JERUSALEM, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, a day after holding a rare meeting with Hamas’ leader in Cairo in a bid to push forward the U.S. president’s Gaza plan.
Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition is trailing in Israeli opinion polls ahead of an October national election, publicly rejected this month a U.S.-backed agreement that would see Hamas surrender its arms in exchange for Israel withdrawing from Gaza.
Trump had said the agreement would be carried out in phases, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza as disarmament proceeded and an ‘International Stabilization Force’ worked with a new Palestinian police force to secure the territory.
But Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, has said the country’s military will only withdraw once Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza have been completely disarmed. Diplomats say Israel is unlikely to make any major concessions over Gaza ahead of the October 27 election.
KUSHNER SEEKS TO PUSH AHEAD WITH STALLED GAZA PLAN
Kushner was joined in the Jerusalem meeting with Netanyahu by Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, the two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mladenov, a former U.N. official with close ties to the United Arab Emirates, an influential Middle Eastern state, helped broker last month’s disarmament agreement and is widely seen as leading efforts to implement Trump’s original 20-point plan to end the war, which Israel and Hamas agreed to last year.
However, there has so far been little progress, with Israel continuing to carry out strikes on Gaza despite agreeing to a ceasefire as part of Trump’s plan. Hamas last month agreed to a new U.S.-backed 15-point roadmap aimed at moving Trump’s plan forward. Israel rejected that roadmap.
Earlier, a source said Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya had been present at some of the meetings in Cairo on Sunday that mediators held with Kushner and Mladenov.
It marks Kushner’s second known meeting with representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist movement by the United States.
Kushner previously met Hamas officials alongside U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in October 2025, helping clinch a deal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Trump said in late July a deal had been reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Hamas has said it agreed to the plan but the deal’s implementation would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal and halting attacks.
(Writing by Tom Perry and Alexander Cornwell; editing by Rami Ayyub and Gareth Jones)
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