President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy, Jared Kushner, has secured Israeli support for continuing the Board of Peace’s plan to demilitarize Gaza after a series of high-profile meetings.
Kushner, joined by BOP officials Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to plead for support after Israel repeatedly rejected the plan. It followed a meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al Hayya on Sunday in Cairo.
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“It was agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement following the meeting.
“A second working group will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel,” the statement continues.
Separately, a BOP official said the conversations were “lengthy, in-depth, and very productive,” stating that the envoys “agreed with the [prime minister] on a path forward.”
“The Israelis are going to give this a chance,” the official said. “Now it’s up to Hamas to show if it truly intends to comply.”
For weeks, Israel has questioned the efficacy of the BOP’s plan, worried that the agreement struck with Hamas would not require the terrorist organization to disarm completely before Israel’s withdrawal from the region.
Netanyahu explicitly stated last week that “Israel rejects the 15-point document,” asserting that Israel “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.”
“And when I say Hamas must be disarmed, I mean the heavy weapons, the less-heavy weapons, all weapons,” he said. “And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not a fictitious one.”
The Board of Peace has maintained that the agreement indeed requires a total disarmament of Hamas before Israel is obligated to take any action. Hamas has been unwilling to commit to demilitarization until Israel adheres to the ceasefire agreement struck last year, but Israeli bombings have continued.
Kushner reportedly pressed his Hamas counterparts on Sunday to begin the disarmament process and sought to assure them that Israel can be expected to fulfill its end of the agreement.
Kushner’s meeting with al Hayya marked the second time that the president’s son has met with high-ranking members of Hamas, having previously met alongside fellow U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff last year.
JARED KUSHNER SPEAKS WITH HAMAS CHIEF ON GAZA PLAN DAY BEFORE NETANYAHU MEETING
The BOP has repeatedly cautioned the public that the full process of demilitarizing Gaza and establishing technocratic governance of the region will take an extended period of time.
An official previously told the Washington Examiner that the 15-point plan would take between 200 and 350 days to complete.
