Trump’s son-in-law meets with Hamas over Gaza peace plan, presses Israel on the 17th

[Financial News] Jared Kushner, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, held an unusual meeting with Hamas leaders to push forward stalled Gaza ceasefire talks.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Kushner met on the 16th local time with a Hamas delegation, including Khalil Al-Hayya, who took over as the group’s leader last month, in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El Alamein. Representatives from the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, were also present.
Photos released by Egypt did not show Al-Hayya, but they did show Kushner seated at the table with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other members of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace. Officials from Qatar and Türkiye, both key mediators alongside Egypt, were also in attendance.
The talks were arranged to revive a U.S.-led 15-point roadmap centered on Hamas disarmament in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. One regional official said Kushner held the meeting to secure Hamas’s commitment to the roadmap, especially on disarmament, before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, Hamas leaders demanded that Israel stop its attacks on Gaza and withdraw beyond the so-called yellow line, which divides the territory, before they begin implementing the roadmap, including disarmament. In a statement that day, Hamas urged the Board of Peace and the mediators to "force the occupying power [Israel] to fulfill all its obligations under the first-phase agreement, stop all violations, killings and incursions, and approve the second-phase roadmap of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan."
More than 10 months have passed since the ceasefire was reached last year, but diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza war still have a long way to go. Last year in Egypt, Kushner, Special Envoy Steven Charles Witkoff and Hamas leaders met in an effort to break the deadlock, but progress has remained elusive as both sides remain locked in a sensitive standoff over Hamas disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Kushner is set to meet Netanyahu on the 17th in an effort to revive the peace plan, which has been stalled by Israeli opposition. However, it remains unclear whether the meeting will have any effect, as Netanyahu is mindful of right-wing coalition partners and conservative voters ahead of October elections.
Before that, Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s rejection of the roadmap and increasing pressure on the country. Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and the ceasefire mediators also joined the statement.
[email protected] Hong Chaewan Reporter