Kushner Meets Hamas Chief in Egypt in Push to Save Stalled Gaza Plan

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior envoy Jared Kushner met Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday, as international mediators intensified efforts to rescue a postwar Gaza plan that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected.

A high-stakes meeting in Egypt

Kushner was joined at the talks by Board of Peace senior envoys Nickolay Mladenov and former British prime minister Tony Blair, along with senior diplomats from the three countries mediating the process: Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. The Hamas delegation, led by al-Hayya, had arrived in Egypt on Saturday evening and earlier held a separate meeting with Egypt's intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad, to discuss the state of negotiations.

According to a Hamas official, the group's message to Egyptian officials centred on Israeli violations of the existing ceasefire arrangement and on Hamas's stated readiness to implement a 15-point roadmap "as soon as Israel announces its commitment to it." A separate Hamas source said talks were also being arranged to discuss obstacles related to the wider agreement during Kushner's regional visit this week.

What the plan asks for — and why it stalled

The roadmap in question, unveiled by Mladenov as the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza, envisions Hamas gradually handing over its weapons to a Palestinian technical committee that would take over civil administration of the territory, with Israeli forces withdrawing in parallel stages. Hamas had signalled acceptance of a preliminary version of that framework. Netanyahu, however, rejected the plan, insisting Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal begins — a sequencing dispute that has left implementation frozen even as the broader ceasefire holds.

The disagreement has drawn sharp reaction from the region. Foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia issued a joint statement this weekend blaming Israel for jeopardising the plan, saying Israel's rejection "amounts to a direct repudiation" of the comprehensive framework endorsed by the UN Security Council and "fundamentally undermines" efforts toward lasting peace in the territory.

On the ground in Gaza

Even as the diplomacy plays out, military activity in Gaza has continued. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on a "terror operative" in the southern Gaza Strip's Khan Younis area on Sunday, with Palestinian media reporting the strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people and injured several. The IDF has not said whether the target posed an active threat, with further details expected later.

What comes next

Kushner is scheduled to continue his regional tour with stops in Israel this week, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration's Board of Peace to bridge the gap between Hamas's stated commitments and Israel's disarmament-first demands. Egypt, Qatar and Turkey remain the primary channels for shuttle diplomacy between the two sides, with technical committee meetings on Gaza's postwar governance continuing in Cairo in parallel.

For now, the ceasefire that halted major hostilities remains formally in place, but the failure to agree on implementation sequencing means the transition to the plan's next phase — including reconstruction funding and a broader Israeli withdrawal — remains on hold pending further talks this week.

This article is an original editorial summary based on publicly reported information. It has been independently written for publication and does not reproduce content from any single source.