Kushner Meets Hamas Leaders in Cairo to Push Gaza Plan
Jared Kushner met Hamas leaders in Cairo in an effort to advance President Trump’s Gaza plan, even as Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the latest framework and insisted Israeli forces would stay in Gaza until Hamas fully disarms. Israeli reports said Netanyahu and Kushner agreed a mechanism for handling threats during the talks. Military operations continued while the diplomacy went on.
Direct American contact with Hamas’s leadership — through the President’s son-in-law rather than the State Department — shows how personal and improvised this diplomacy has become, and how determined Washington is to keep the plan alive despite Israel’s rejection of it. The two tracks now run in open contradiction: Hamas says it has accepted the framework, Israel vows to fight on until disarmament, and each blames the other for the impasse. Cairo’s hosting underlines Egypt’s indispensable role, and the reported understanding on managing flashpoints suggests both Washington and Jerusalem want the talks to survive contact with events on the ground. Watch whether the Cairo channel produces movement or hardens the deadlock.