Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner have concluded their discussion, the premier’s spokeswoman informed.
Trump’s 15-point peace proposal, which includes asking for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the reconstruction of Gaza under a new civilian Palestinian government, was rejected by Israel last week.
Trump's Board of Peace Pushes for Hamas Disarmament in Gaza
The president’s Board of Peace said last month that it had secured a deal for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza, which prompted the rejection.
Trump is in charge of the Board of Peace, an international organization that was first established with the goal of bringing about peace in Gaza but has since grown to encompass conflicts all around the world.
Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair are reportedly meeting with Netanyahu on Monday in an effort to forward Trump’s proposal, according to Israeli media.
According to reports, Trump stated that Israel shouldn’t be conducting operations in Gaza and that Hamas “are giving up their guns” during a phone conversation with CNN on Monday. The US site didn’t go into further detail about his remarks.
Key Challenges to Gaza Peace Plan
Despite Netanyahu’s adamant rejection of a fresh roadmap, the US-led Board of Peace seeks to demonstrate that the peace plan for Gaza can still proceed.
In return for a gradual pullout of Israeli troops, Hamas has consented to surrender its weaponry. However, Israel has maintained that prior to any Israeli withdrawal, Hamas must completely disarm.
In order to prevent Hamas from recovering whatever weapons it relinquishes, it also wants them destroyed rather than kept by a Palestinian technocratic committee.
Furthermore, there is hostility to Turkey and Qatar participating in monitoring whether Hamas is fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.
It will be difficult to persuade Netanyahu to alter his stance.
As his party struggles in polls ahead of October’s Israeli general election and as members of his ruling coalition urge for a stronger policy in Gaza, he has seemed more inclined to disobey the US, his nation’s closest friend.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right National Security Minister, has demanded the “targeted eliminations” of “30 or 40” persons in Gaza every nite.
Ben-Gvir stated in an August 15 podcast conversation with Rom Braslavski, who was kidnaped by Hamas after the October 7 attack: “There are people there who are not worthy of life, not just those who pose an immediate threat.”
They ought not to exist. They’re not human at all. The Times of Israel, the Financial Times, and the Associated Press all reported on the remarks.
Kushner Holds Rare Talks With Hamas Leader in Egypt
Trump’s son-in-law met a team headed by Hamas’s new leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday, a Palestinian official told the BBC ahead of Kushner and Netanyahu’s meeting on Monday.
Later, in a statement, Hamas urged the Board of Peace and mediators to “compel” Israel to accept the following stages’ blueprint.
It is thought that Kushner’s meeting with Hayya is the first of its kind since the Gaza Strip truce was agreed upon last year.
Along with officials of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, which have mediated peace efforts, Blair, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom, and Mladenov, a senior representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, attended the conference.
Kushner Talks Focus on Gaza Governance and Israeli Withdrawal
The negotiations, which apparently focused on specific steps to decommission Hamas’s weaponry as well as the evacuation of Israeli forces and humanitarian measures, were not made public.
The meeting’s objectives included “beginning to transfer all governing responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
Hamas has no future governing role in Gaza, facilitating Israeli withdrawals, and deploying an international stabilizing force to the region,” according to a source familiar with the proceedings who spoke to News, the US partner.
