US President Donald Trump sent his son-in-law Jared Kushner as an envoy into a surprise meeting with Hamas leaders in an attempt to get them to disarm Gaza, according to a new report.
Kushner, the US Special Envoy for Peace, held a rare meeting with leaders of the Islamist terrorist group on Sunday in Egypt, two sources close to the meeting told Axios.
The surprise diplomatic push precedes Kushner’s scheduled talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Monday), to talk about ‘corresponding steps’ Israel must take as part of the 20-point Gaza peace plan brought forward by the US, a source said.
The focus of the ‘unusual’ meetup was to ‘translate’ Hamas’ duty to demilitarize Gaza ‘into concrete, verifiable steps,’ the report stated.
Khalil al-Hayy, a Hamas political leader, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and an unnamed senior Turkish official attended the sit-down, sources said.
These steps have been made in a bid to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza by transferring authority to the Palestinian technocratic government and making sure that Hamas has no future role in Gaza’s governance, the report detailed.
Hamas has been in power in the Gaza Strip for 19 years, but now the Board of Peace now wants the organization to retire its weapons and military infrastructure.
Hamas officials reportedly reaffirmed a commitment to hand over weapons to a governing committee and transition civilian control, while calling on the U.S.-led Board of Peace to pressure Israel.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly dismissed the recent U.S. proposal, insisting that the Israel Defense Forces will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is entirely and genuinely disarmed.
Now, Kushner will be joined by figures like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Board of Peace representatives to meet with Netanyahu in Jerusalem to address Israeli skepticism and bridge the gap over the phased withdrawal and disarmament timeline.
