News24 | Kushner's talks with Israel, Hamas end without breakthrough on Trump Gaza plan

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch presentations during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace on 19 February in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

• Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas leaders in a bid to revive Trump’s stalled Gaza peace plan.
• Netanyahu rejected the roadmap, insisting Israel would not withdraw until Hamas is completely disarmed first.
• No breakthrough emerged as both sides disputed sequencing, with over 1 200 Palestinians killed since the October ceasefire.

Donald Trump’s ‌envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on Monday wrapped up two days of meetings with Israeli ⁠and Hamas leaders to break a stalemate over the US president’s Gaza plan, but there were no signs of an imminent breakthrough as ⁠both sides dug in.

Kushner met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel a day after meeting Hamas’ political leader in Egypt in a bid to revive the plan, which has stalled as Israel has carried out air strikes and seized more territory in Gaza despite an October ceasefire, while Hamas has refused to give up its weapons.

Trump last month announced that Hamas ‌had agreed to lay down its arms in phases, under a 15-point roadmap put forward by his so-called Board of Peace to advance the president’s plan, as Israel’s military withdraws from Gaza. Hamas said it agreed to the roadmap, but implementation depended on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including halting attacks and withdrawing.

No breakthrough in Jerusalem

Netanyahu, ‌whose ruling coalition is trailing in Israeli opinion polls ahead of an October national election, earlier this month rejected the roadmap, insisting Israel would not withdraw until Hamas is completely disarmed.

An Israeli official indicated that there was no breakthrough in the meeting, saying Netanyahu had made it clear the military would not withdraw from a demarcation line set out in an October ceasefire and would continue to carry out operations in Gaza as it sees necessary, including targeting those ‌who took part in the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas has demanded that Israel adhere to the ceasefire, while both sides have disputed the sequencing of how Trump’s plan to end the war would be implemented. More than 1 200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military.

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Two sources said Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu lasted several hours. Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Special Envoy for Peace in Gaza, who is widely seen as leading efforts to implement the plan, also attended the meeting, the sources told Reuters.

The Israeli official said Netanyahu and Kushner agreed in the meeting that the reconstruction of Gaza would not begin until Hamas was fully disarmed, including of light weapons.

In a statement that characterised the meeting as “deep and constructive,” the prime minister’s office said that Israel and the Board of Peace believe that Gaza’s disarmament should be “prompt and completed before any reconstruction ⁠happens.”

The Prime Minister's Office:

The Prime Minister and Board of Peace had deep and constructive discussions. It was agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarisation of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and…

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) August 17, 2026

It also said that Netanyahu had agreed with the Board of Peace to establish a working group on disarmament and demilitarisation and another on sanitation, clean water, and other public health issues in Gaza.

A Board of Peace official described the meeting as “in-depth and very productive,” saying the two sides had reached an agreement on a path forward. The official did not elaborate.

Reconstruction

US and Israeli officials have previously ⁠said that reconstruction could happen in areas of Gaza under Israeli control or a new Palestinian technocratic government. The Board of Peace has indicated that while rifles would be prohibited, some personal weapons would be permitted under Palestinian law.

Netanyahu is facing a tough reelection campaign, and diplomats say it is unlikely Israel’s longest-serving prime minister would make any concessions over Gaza before the 27 October vote.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Kushner and Mladenov were in Israel after meeting with Hamas political ⁠leader Khalil Al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday.

נפגשתי היום בבית הנשיא בירושלים עם השליח המיוחד של ארה״ב, ג׳ארד קושנר, עם מנכ״ל מועצת השלום, ניקולאי מלאדנוב, ועם צוותיהם.

אני מלא הערכה לנשיא ארה״ב טראמפ, לג׳ארד קושנר, לניקולאי מלאדנוב ולצוותיהם, שפועלים לקידום השלבים הבאים בעזה על בסיס תכנית 20 הנקודות של הנשיא טראמפ.… pic.twitter.com/0dwMYBXT81

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) August 17, 2026

It marks Kushner’s second known meeting with representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist movement ‌by the United States.

Kushner ‌previously met Hamas officials alongside US envoy Steve Witkoff in October 2025, helping clinch a deal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages seized by Hamas.