“I think we agree with them on the end state,” Kushner said, referring to Israel. “They just have a crazy election and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards but we’re very determined and we’re working through these things.”
Jared Kushner says Israel’s ‘crazy election’ is making it ‘a little irrational’ on Gaza
Kushner also warned that the scale of weapons and military infrastructure in Gaza is only now becoming clear to U.S. officials and that demilitarizing the enclave will be difficult.
“You can’t go in if there’s guns, right? You can’t send the government into a place,” he said. “By the way, we’re now starting to understand the scope of the militarization of Gaza. It is beyond your comprehension. And so demilitarizing it is not going to be easy.”
Kushner said the Trump administration had been working directly with Hamas for more than four months.
“We worked with Hamas for over four months. You know, you talk about, you know, interesting people to be working with, and they signed an agreement saying they were going to demilitarize,” he said.
His comments come as Washington continues efforts to advance the next stage of its Gaza roadmap while Israel weighs how any new governing arrangement in the territory could be implemented without allowing Hamas to reestablish control.
In mid-August, Kushner met in Egypt with senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, alongside former Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan, as part of efforts to advance the Trump administration’s roadmap.
Hamas subsequently said it had agreed to the roadmap for the second phase, which includes an Israeli withdrawal, expanded humanitarian aid, the start of work by a national committee to administer Gaza and reconstruction of the territory.
Jared Kushner with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty
Before the meeting, Dahlan said he had received a message from Kushner that an agreement had been reached with Israel to halt strikes in Gaza. He called on all Palestinian factions to honor their commitments and avoid actions that could give Israel grounds to derail the agreement.
Meanwhile, ynet revealed in early September that after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured an IDF position along the Yellow Line in Gaza, he and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to prepare a plan for a regional pilot model in the Strip similar to the framework being used in southern Lebanon.
Under the emerging plan, which Katz raised during the discussion and Netanyahu supported, designated areas of Gaza would be opened to international forces tasked with clearing the area, establishing governance and preventing Hamas members from returning.
As in Lebanon, the plan would be implemented in coordination with the United States.