Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as Washington seeks to revive the US president’s Gaza peace plan following Kushner’s rare talks with Hamas representatives in Egypt.
A diplomatic source said Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya attended some of the meetings held in Cairo yesterday between mediators, Mr Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, Mr Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza.
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Egypt, which hosted the talks, released a photograph showing Mr Kushner seated alongside members of the Board of Peace, but Mr Al-Hayya was not visible in the image. Qatar and Turkey, important mediators alongside Egypt, also took part.
The encounter was Mr Kushner’s second known meeting with representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist movement by the United States.
President Trump said in late July that an agreement had been reached to fully disarm Hamas and other armed groups operating in Gaza.
But Mr Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election in a vote scheduled for October, has publicly rejected the plan put forward by Mr Trump.
Under the phased arrangement described by President Trump, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza as disarmament advanced. An International Stabilization Force would then work alongside a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.
Hamas has said it accepted the plan, while insisting that implementation would hinge on Israel fulfilling its own obligations first, including withdrawing from Gaza and ending attacks.
