Meeting with Kushner, PM doubles down on IDF remaining in Gaza until Hamas disarmed

US President Donald Trump’s top aide Jared Kushner met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, an official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.

Kushner was joined at Netanyahu’s office by Board of Peace senior envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, the official added. It was not immediately clear who else was participating on the Israeli side.

The meeting began in the late morning and ended in the mid-afternoon, according to an Israeli official.

It came as the US-backed Board was working to advance the 15-point road map to move forward with Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which Hamas said it agreed to, but which Netanyahu publicly rejected, asserting that the terror group has to fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

The official downplayed disagreement between Israel and the US on the plan’s advancement, saying that rather than aiming for Israel’s “signature” on the 15-point plan, Monday’s meeting was focused on “moving forward on all the elements [of the plan] that we can.”

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On Sunday, Kushner, Mladenov, and Blair met with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt.

At the talks, Hamas said it would only begin disarming, as required by the US-backed Board of Peace’s Gaza plan, if Netanyahu publicly commits to adhering to the terms of the plan, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.

Hamas said later that it had asked the Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to accept the plan.

The Board of Peace is hoping that coaxing Netanyahu to quietly restore a halt on IDF strikes in Gaza will be sufficient to allow Hamas to begin handing over its weapons.

But the Arab diplomat said the terror group – which remains the de facto government of a large swath of the Strip – is unlikely to do so without a public announcement from Netanyahu expressing support for the plan.

In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump was asked about his aides’ diplomatic tour.  He indicated progress on Hamas disarming under his plan, and said that Israel should not be striking Gaza right now.

“We have our own relationship with Hamas. They are giving up their guns,” the US president said.

Several regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, issued a statement Sunday condemning Israel’s rejection of the roadmap, saying, “Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza.” Other signers included Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and the ceasefire mediators.

The foreign ministers’ statement called on the Board of Peace and the US to take “immediate and concrete measures” to keep any party from obstructing the plan’s implementation. Israel had no immediate response.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

The subsequent Israeli offensive – whose stated goals were the return of the captives, the toppling of Hamas, and the elimination of any future threat to Israel from the Strip – mostly ended in October 2025, with a US-brokered ceasefire deal that secured the release of the last of the hostages, living and dead.

The deal divided Gaza into two parts, one controlled by the Israel Defense Forces and the other still controlled by Hamas. Since then, clashes have continued, with five Israeli soldiers killed and the IDF regularly targeting Hamas commanders in deadly airstrikes that have killed more than a thousand people total since the truce went into effect, according to Hamas figures that don’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Though Israel has agreed to eventually withdraw from the Strip, and Hamas has agreed to eventually disarm, each has said they will not undertake their step until more progress is made on the other side’s commitment, resulting in the current stalemate.

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