Political considerations in Israel are complicating efforts to advance American plans for Gaza, even though Washington and Jerusalem agree on the desired outcome, US special envoy Jared Kushner said on Sunday.
“We’re working through some political issues in Israel,” he told reporters in Kyiv. “I think we agree with them on the end state. They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards. But we’re very determined that we’re working through these things.”
Regarding the situation in Gaza, Kushner said: “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.”
The US had worked with Hamas for more than four months, and the terrorist organization had signed an agreement committing to demilitarization, he said, adding: “You can’t go in if there are guns, right? You can’t send the government into a place.”
The talks had been “very substantial,” Zelensky said.
They had discussed security and economic guarantees for Ukraine, supplies of air-defense missiles, and a winter support package, he said.
Zelensky said he hoped trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the US would resume soon.
On Saturday, Kushner and Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Reuters contributed to this report.