George AnjayJared Kushner, the United States President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, is currently meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a development confirmed by the Prime Minister’s spokesperson to the BBC. This high-level engagement follows Kushner’s unprecedented talks with Hamas leadership in Egypt on Sunday, aimed at discussing the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan. The meeting with Hamas, reportedly the first at this level since last year’s ceasefire agreement, involved a delegation led by Hamas’s new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, and included key mediators such as Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The US-backed peace plan, a comprehensive 15-point proposal, seeks a complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the rebuilding of Gaza under a new civilian Palestinian administration. However, the plan faces significant hurdles, most notably Israel’s outright rejection last week. This rejection came after the Board of Peace, an international organization established to foster peace in Gaza and later expanded to address global conflicts, had announced an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other militant factions. President Trump himself leads the Board of Peace.
According to Israeli media reports, Mladenov and Blair are also slated to meet with Netanyahu on Monday, with the overarching objective of advancing Trump’s peace initiative. The Board of Peace is evidently committed to demonstrating that the Gaza peace plan can still progress, despite Netanyahu’s firm stance against this new roadmap.
Hamas has reportedly signaled its willingness to surrender its weapons in exchange for a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal. However, Israel maintains a rigid precondition: complete disarmament of Hamas must precede any Israeli pullout. Furthermore, Israel insists that any weapons relinquished by Hamas during its disarmament process should be destroyed, rather than stored by a Palestinian technocratic committee, to prevent their potential reclamation by Hamas. Adding to the complexity, there is significant opposition to the involvement of Turkey and Qatar in monitoring Hamas’s compliance with the terms of any potential deal.
The challenge for Kushner and the Board of Peace in persuading Netanyahu to alter his position is substantial. The Israeli Prime Minister appears increasingly emboldened to defy the United States, his country’s staunchest ally, particularly as his party navigates challenging poll numbers in the lead-up to the October Israeli general election. Moreover, influential members of his governing coalition are advocating for a more aggressive strategy in Gaza. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has openly called for nightly "targeted eliminations" of "30 or 40" individuals in Gaza. In a podcast interview aired on August 15th, Ben-Gvir, speaking to Rom Braslavski, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th, stated, "Not just those who pose an immediate threat – there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people." These inflammatory remarks were widely reported by major news outlets including the Associated Press, the Financial Times, and the Times of Israel.
The meeting between Kushner and al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday, as confirmed by a Palestinian official to the BBC, was described as focusing on concrete actions related to decommissioning Hamas’s weapons, facilitating the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza. In a subsequent statement, Hamas urged mediators and the Board of Peace to "compel" Israel to endorse the roadmap for the next phases of the plan. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting, speaking to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, revealed that the discussions encompassed "beginning to transfer all governing responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ensuring Hamas has no future governing role in Gaza, facilitating Israeli withdrawals and deploying an international stabilising force to the region."
The ceasefire that took effect on October 10th of last year has largely held, though the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have conducted near-daily strikes since its inception. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are deemed reliable by the UN, over 1,200 people have been killed since the ceasefire began, with Unicef reporting at least 300 child fatalities. There was a brief period of reduced attacks, reportedly at the US’s request, even after Israel’s rejection of the 15-point plan. However, Israeli strikes have since resumed. The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it had targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad "terrorists" in Khan Younis and Nuseirat, with local medics reporting injuries among residents of a tent camp in Khan Younis. Both Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
The current conflict was ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 others. In response, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, which, according to the territory’s health ministry, has led to the deaths of over 73,000 people, including 21,280 children. The United Nations estimates that approximately 1.9 million people, representing 90% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced since the war commenced. The ongoing diplomatic efforts, spearheaded by Kushner, face an uphill battle against entrenched political positions and the volatile realities on the ground.
Nakalama John
Ramos Leo
Nana Banana
