Jared Kushner meets with Hamas, regional leaders to push peace plan
Aug. 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner on Sunday met with Hamas to discuss the U.S.-backed peace plan for Gaza.
Kusher, Trump’s son-in-law, met with a delegation that included new leader Khalil al-Hawayy in Egypt, the BBC reported.
Trump’s Board of Peace last month said it reached a deal for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. However, Israel last week rejected the 15-point plan that also calls for Israel to withdraw its troops from the enclave and for its reconstruction under a new civilian Palestinian government.
Eight Muslim countries on Sunday issued a statement blasting Israel’s rejection of the plan.
According to the BBC, the meeting was said to be the first at this level since a ceasefire agreement for Gaza was reached last year.
Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly took part in the meeting, along with representatives of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
Kushner also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Kusher, Mladenov, and Blair were to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, according to Israeli media reports.
Netanyahu has said he wants Hamas fully disarmed to implement the plan.”Israel rejects the Board of Peace’s 15-point document on Gaza,” he said. “The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.”
Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia said in a joint statement that Israel’s rejection of the plan threatened Trump’s peace efforts.