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United States (US) envoy Jared Kushner has held talks with Hamas leaders in Egypt and is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in a new push to revive President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met Hamas’s new leader Khalil al-Hayya in El-Alamein on Sunday, according to sources familiar with the talks disclosed to AFP.
According to AFP, one source said Kushner urged Hamas to take “concrete, verifiable steps” towards disarmament and stressed that “Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel.” Another source said Hamas again expressed its commitment to the US-backed plan.
Hamas later called on mediators and Trump’s so-called Board of Peace to pressure Israel to approve the roadmap and set a timeline for its implementation. The talks come two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump’s plan, which Netanyahu has rejected.
Netanyahu has insisted that any peace deal must ensure Hamas is “genuinely disarmed” before Israel makes further commitments.
Kushner’s meeting with Hamas marks another step in the Trump administration’s direct engagement with the group, despite the United States designating Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
The US had previously avoided direct contact with Hamas but has increasingly engaged the group in efforts to end the Gaza conflict.
Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have played key roles in mediation, also participated in Sunday’s discussions.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was among members of the Board of Peace present at the meeting.
Meanwhile, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and five Muslim-majority countries; Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Indonesia, criticised Israel’s rejection of the peace plan.
In a joint statement, the countries said Israel bore “direct and full responsibility” for obstructing peace efforts and warned that its position could weaken Trump’s initiative.
Netanyahu’s Likud Party rejected the criticism, accusing the Arab countries of seeking to remove the Israeli prime minister ahead of elections.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, violence has continued in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes and gunfire wounded several people on Sunday, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
The Israeli military said its forces had carried out “precise aerial strikes” in response to threats from Islamic terrorist militants.
Gaza health authorities, which operate under Hamas, say at least 1,262 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began on October 10. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The Israeli military has reported five deaths among its forces during the same period.
