Kushner's talks with Israel, Hamas end without breakthrough on Trump Gaza plan
The talks stalled as Israel continued military operations in Gaza while Hamas refused to give up its weapons.
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JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner left Jerusalem on Monday (Aug 17) without a breakthrough after two days of talks with Israeli and Hamas leaders over a stalled US plan to end the war in Gaza, with both sides standing firm on key demands.
Kushner met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel a day after meeting the political leader of Hamas in Egypt in a bid to revive the plan. 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.
Kushner described his nearly four-hour meeting with Netanyahu as "good". Kushner added that Hamas representatives said "all the right things".
"We could be seeing progress, you know in as little as 30 days, hopefully on starting to take some of the weapons out and hopefully, you know, filling in some of the tunnels as well in the next 60 to 90 days as well," Kushner told Fox News.
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 his plan, as Israel's military withdraws from Gaza. Hamas said it agreed to the roadmap but implementation depends on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including halting attacks and withdrawing.
NO BREAKTHROUGH IN JERUSALEM
Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition is trailing in opinion polls ahead of an October national election, rejected the deal this month, insisting that Israel would not pull back until Hamas is completely disarmed.
Kushner said the United States will not restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are imminent threats. This point, Kushner said, has to be clarified to determine what that means.
"Every weapon, light and heavy, and every tunnel," said an official with Trump's Board of Peace, adding that Israel retained the right of self-defence and that Israel would be able to "act accordingly" if Hamas "resorts to terror, violence or attempts to rearm".
However, the official said Netanyahu was told that Hamas has committed to fully disarm and "cease immediately all military activity, including rearmament and tunnel digging".
An Israeli official said Netanyahu was clear in the meeting that troops would not withdraw and that the military would continue to operate as it sees necessary, including targeting Palestinian militants who took part in the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed that Gaza's reconstruction would not start until Hamas is disarmed, the Israeli official said.
"We're very committed to the fact that we have a plan to rebuild Gaza, but we will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until the demilitarisation occurs," Kushner said. "Nobody wants to put more money into a place that's gone on for so long if it's just going to be taken over by terrorists or blown up again."
Hamas has demanded that Israel adhere to the ceasefire and withdraw its forces from Gaza. Both sides have disputed the sequencing of how Trump's plan should be implemented. More than 1,200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since last October, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military.
Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed to establish a working group covering disarmament and another on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues, the prime minister's office and the Board of Peace official said separately.
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 had said that while rifles would be prohibited in Gaza, 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 Oct 27 vote. Most Israelis want the war in Gaza to continue, polls show.
Kushner and Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, a former United Nations official who is widely seen as leading efforts to implement the plan to end the war, were in Israel after meeting with Hamas political leader Khalil Al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday.
It marked 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.
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