U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner has held extensive talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington seeks to revive its stalled peace plan for Gaza.
The meeting came after Kushner held rare discussions with a Hamas delegation in Egypt on Sunday. Hamas later called on mediators and the Trump-led Board of Peace to pressure Israel to accept the proposed roadmap. Israel rejected Trump’s 15-point plan last week, which calls for an Israeli troop withdrawal and the reconstruction of Gaza under a new civilian Palestinian administration.
Following Monday’s discussions, Netanyahu’s office said Israel and representatives of the Board of Peace agreed to establish two working groups. One will focus on the disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza, while the other will address sanitation, clean water and other public health concerns. Israel maintains that Hamas must completely disarm before reconstruction can begin.
The two sides remain divided over the sequencing of the plan. Hamas has agreed to surrender its weapons in exchange for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, while Israel insists disarmament must take place before its forces pull back. Israel also wants surrendered weapons destroyed and has raised objections to Turkey and Qatar participating in efforts to verify Hamas’s compliance.
Kushner’s meeting with Hamas representatives was reportedly led by the group’s new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, and included Board of Peace representatives Nickolay Mladenov and former British prime minister Tony Blair, along with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. Discussions reportedly covered Hamas’s disarmament, Israeli troop withdrawals, humanitarian measures and transferring governing responsibilities in Gaza to a new administrative body.
Several regional countries, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia, have warned that Israel’s rejection of the U.S. roadmap could undermine efforts to advance the peace process.
A ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 remains formally in place, although Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violations. Israeli strikes in Gaza have continued, while negotiations remain focused on disarmament, troop withdrawals, reconstruction and the territory’s future governance.
