Kushner Meets with Netanyahu to Discuss Gaza Disarmament

Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to President Trump, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that the US wants Israel to take small steps in Gaza to test whether Hamas' commitment to start disarming is genuine. The four-hour meeting took place amid deep skepticism from Netanyahu about the US plan for Gaza, and ahead of an October election that makes the Israeli leader reluctant to offer significant concessions on the issue.

Kushner arrived in Israel after meetings in Egypt with Hamas leaders and with the Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. He brought a delegation to the meeting with Netanyahu that included the High Representative of Trump's Gaza Board of Peace, Nikolay Mladenov, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Board of Peace senior advisers Aryeh Lightstone and Liran Tancman.

During the meeting, Netanyahu expressed deep skepticism about Hamas' commitment to demilitarize and asked Kushner why he met with its leaders in Egypt on Sunday. Kushner told Netanyahu it was important to hear from them directly on whether they're willing to move forward with demilitarization.

The US official said Kushner told Netanyahu the US doesn't expect Israel to refrain from taking action against imminent threats by Hamas. He stressed that the plan from Trump's Board of Peace calls for the reconstruction process to begin only after demilitarization is concluded.

Kushner and Netanyahu agreed to form a 'deconfliction' mechanism in Gaza that would monitor violations and address Israeli concerns about emerging threats to prevent escalation on the ground. Egyptian mediators would be involved, the US official said.