US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the premier’s spokesperson has told the BBC.
Kushner arrived in Israel last night after holding talks with Hamas to discuss the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan on Sunday.
Last week, Israel rejected Trump’s 15-point plan for peace, which also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and for Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration.
The rejection came after Trump’s Board of Peace said it had reached agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza last month.
Eight Muslim countries issued a statement on Sunday condemning Israel’s rejection.
Trump leads the Board of Peace, which was created as an international organisation originally intended to bring peace to Gaza, but later expanded to include conflicts worldwide.
On Sunday, a Palestinian official told the BBC that Trump’s son-in-law met a delegation led by Hamas’s new leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt.
In a statement, Hamas later called on mediators and the Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to approve the roadmap for the next steps.
But Netanyahu faces a tough October election to try to hold onto power, with a coalition that includes ministers in favour of taking a harsher line on Gaza.
Many Israelis are also sceptical that Hamas is ready to disarm.
Kushner’s meeting with Hayya is believed to be the first at this level since last year’s agreement of a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip.
High representative for Gaza to the US-led Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair were reportedly also part of the meeting, alongside representatives of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have mediated in the peace efforts.
No official statement has been released of the talks, reportedly focusing on concrete actions to decommission Hamas’s weapons, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops and humanitarian efforts.
A source with knowledge of the meeting told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that the meeting’s contents included “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”.
