Trump's Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, engaged in unprecedented talks with a Hamas delegation that could shift the Gaza peace agenda.
On Sunday, Kushner met Khalil al‑Hayya, the newly appointed overall leader of Hamas, in Egypt for a high‑level dialogue that critics say could bring fresh momentum to the US‑backed 15‑point Gaza plan.
The meeting also involved former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Board of Peace envoy Nickolai Mladenov, and representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and other mediating states. They discussed concrete steps for disarming Hamas’s weapons, withdrawing Israeli forces, and initiating humanitarian reconstruction under a new civilian Palestinian administration.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the Board of Peace plan, insisting that Hamas must be fully disarmed before any withdrawal of IDF troops. In a joint statement, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia warned that the rejection threatens Trump’s peace efforts.
The ceasefire that began on 10 October remains in force, but Israeli forces have resumed air strikes in Gaza, citing breaches of the truce by Hamas. The war, sparked by the 7 October Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages, has claimed over 73,000 Palestinian lives according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The United Nations estimates that roughly 1.9 million people—about 90% of Gaza’s population—have been displaced since the conflict escalated.
