Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner on Monday agreed that the Gaza Strip’s “demilitarization” should start with a Hamas weapons handover supervised by an American military general, according to a senior Israeli official. The agreement came during an hourslong meeting, which followed rare talks between the leader of Hamas, Kushner and other members of Trump’s Board of Peace — part of a renewed push to revive a Gaza peace plan endorsed by Trump and Hamas but rejected by Israel. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the details of the meeting provided by the senior Israeli official.
Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined Netanyahu and Kushner. Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed that no reconstruction of Gaza should begin before Hamas is disarmed and that “necessary measures” should be taken to “address sanitation and environmental concerns,” the official added. Netanyahu “made it clear” that the Israel Defense Forces will not redeploy but that it will “continue to thwart” threats to its forces and the residents of Israel, the official said.
The group “held deep and constructive discussions on the way forward,” a Board of Peace official told NBC News. They agreed the IDF would not redeploy from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed and agreed to immediately establish joint working groups on the demilitarization of Gaza and the basic needs of the Palestinian enclave including clean water, the Board of Peace official said. In a statement, Netanyahu’s office did not confirm the details given by the Israeli official but did confirm that the group had agreed to establish the two working groups.
Both Israel and the Board of Peace agree that the disarmament and demilitarization piece “should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza,” the prime minister’s office said. The U.S. and Israel have shown rare public divisions over the road map for the future of the Palestinian enclave, as well as the Israeli government’s approach to a mounting crisis in the occupied West Bank. The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Netanyahu faces growing domestic pressure ahead of Israeli elections in October, including from the far-right faction upon which his fragile coalition government relies.
Netanyahu earlier this month rejected Trump’s 15-point plan, which would require Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, with the Israeli leader vowing that there would be no military pullout until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed.” Earlier Monday, Hamas welcomed a joint statement from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemning Israel’s rejection of the road map. Hamas has said that it will disarm but that Israel must end its strikes and begin withdrawing from Gaza. It has also previously said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would unfold later in the process, would be contingent on the international recognition of a Palestinian state, a demand Israel’s current government rejects.
A Board of Peace official told NBC News over the weekend that the U.S. and Israel agreed on the “end state” of talks, “which is a demilitarized Hamas.” “We will hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps,” the official had said of the meeting with Netanyahu. Powerful National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned efforts to advance the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, who was one of the last living hostages released from captivity after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, he called for the “targeted” killing of “30 or 40” people in Gaza every night.
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