Washington 17 August – U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and envoy Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday, urging the group to surrender its weapons and begin a concrete, verifiable process of disarmament as part of efforts to maintain a ceasefire and advance a Gaza peace agreement, U.S. news outlet Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the meeting.
The meeting marked the first known encounter between Kushner and Hamas leaders since an agreement was reached last October to end the Gaza war. It came as the White House and Trump’s Board of Peace seek to move forward with the next phase of a 20-point peace plan and press both Hamas and Israel to fulfill their commitments.
Kushner was joined by Board of Peace senior representative Nikolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a member of the board. Hamas was represented by political leader Khalil al-Hayya. Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official also attended the talks.
The meeting focused on turning Hamas’s commitments to demilitarize Gaza into specific and verifiable measures. These include transferring governing authority to a Palestinian technocratic administration and ensuring that Hamas has no role in Gaza’s future governance.
The Board of Peace is seeking the initial deactivation of Hamas’s weapons and military infrastructure, cooperation with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance to Gaza.
In return, Hamas expects Israel to withdraw troops from Gaza proportionately as the group begins reducing its military capabilities and to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
One source familiar with the discussions said there could be no ambiguity over the demands: Hamas must relinquish governance, weapons and military infrastructure so that Gaza can no longer pose a threat to Israel.
Kushner is expected to travel to Israel on Monday, where he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the next steps required from the Israeli side under the peace agreement.
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