{"id":252771,"date":"2026-08-17T13:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/252771\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T13:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:50:11","slug":"why-kushner-met-hamas-leaders-and-what-it-means-for-trumps-gaza-roadmap-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/252771\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Kushner met Hamas leaders, and what it means for Trump\u2019s Gaza roadmap | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States envoy Jared Kushner is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for high-stakes talks in Tel Aviv, following intensive diplomatic sessions in Cairo, Egypt,<\/a> aimed at advancing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire roadmap.<\/p>\n

Kushner, accompanied by Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov<\/a> and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair<\/a>, held an unprecedented meeting lasting more than two hours with a Hamas delegation. The Reuters news agency reported that Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya<\/a> headed the team.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic push comes as Washington seeks to implement a 15-point roadmap<\/a> for Gaza \u2014 approved by US President Donald Trump\u2019s Board of Peace.<\/p>\n

However, Netanyahu has publicly rejected<\/a> the framework, insisting that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed, while Israel continues military operations in Gaza and expands its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Here is what we know about Kushner\u2019s meeting with Hamas leaders, what he is expected to do next, and what these developments mean for the 15-point plan for Gaza.<\/p>\n

Why did Kushner meet Hamas leaders?<\/p>\n

Officially, the US describes Hamas as a banned, \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation. Unofficially, the US has long engaged with the Palestinian group, mostly through mediators.<\/p>\n

Political analysts view the direct engagement between the US envoys and the Hamas leadership as a pivotal recognition of political realities on the ground.<\/p>\n

Mahjoob Zweiri, a lecturer and expert in Middle East politics at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the meeting represents a \u201ctype of American submission to the fact that Hamas is a political force in Palestinian society that cannot be ignored\u201d.<\/p>\n

He noted that despite Israeli attempts to sideline the group, Washington recognises that Hamas remains an indispensable actor for any lasting settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a matter Netanyahu was trying to avoid,\u201d Zweiri said, adding that the Israeli prime minister \u201cis rebellious against US policy and international law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adel Shadid, an expert in Israeli affairs, echoed this assessment, describing the direct Cairo talks as a profound strategic shift that he said would be deeply unnerving for the Israeli leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reveals that there is a shift in the American position towards Hamas,\u201d Shadid told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

He added that Washington now views the movement differently, indicating that \u201cHamas is no longer the problem in the American reading, but rather part of the solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shadid emphasised that this dynamic \u201ccontradicts one of the most important goals of the war, represented by the eradication of Hamas, not only militarily but also politically\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Atawna, director of the Istanbul-based Vision Center for Political Development, told Al Jazeera that Palestinian factions currently hold a solid tactical negotiating posture alongside Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can say now that the Palestinians and resistance factions \u2014 even if conditionally or tactically \u2014 are in a good negotiating position,\u201d Atawna said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on the agenda when Kushner meets Netanyahu?<\/p>\n

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported<\/a> that US officials are increasingly frustrated that Israel is \u201ctrying to buy time, introduce new reservations, and change the sequencing set out in the roadmap\u201d.<\/p>\n

Citing sources familiar with the discussions, the newspaper reported that Washington feels \u201cIsrael is playing games\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the daily, Kushner\u2019s mandate during his Monday meeting with Netanyahu is not to reopen negotiations, with one source stating that he \u201cis not coming to Israel for another round of diplomatic ping pong\u201d but rather \u201cis coming to close\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US administration is expected to push Netanyahu on halting attacks in Gaza, withdrawing forces to the \u201cYellow Line<\/a>\u201c, significantly increasing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave and enabling the rollout of reconstruction and civilian governance mechanisms.<\/p>\n

Why does this matter to Trump?<\/p>\n

According to some analysts, Trump is increasingly invested in forcing a breakthrough over Gaza amid other foreign policy setbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is not going the way he wants, and his attempt to separate the Lebanese file from the memorandum of understanding did not succeed,\u201d Zweiri told Al Jazeera. \u201cThe only file where he can make a breakthrough and record it as a victory in his foreign policy is the Gaza file now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight Arab and Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkiye, issued a joint statement<\/a> condemning Israel\u2019s rejection of the roadmap and accusing it of delaying efforts to end the genocidal war on Gaza.<\/p>\n

They warned that rejecting the framework \u201cconstitutes an explicit refusal to proceed with the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, and directly threatens to derail the extensive efforts exerted by US President Trump to bring an end to the war in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fifteen-point plan: What\u2019s the main dispute over?<\/p>\n

The central dispute centres on the sequencing of obligations under the 15-point plan.<\/p>\n

The framework calls for a phased approach involving the cessation of military operations, the gradual dismantling and storage of arms, an Israeli military withdrawal and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force<\/a> working alongside a Palestinian technocratic administration.<\/p>\n

While Hamas confirmed its acceptance of the roadmap during the Cairo meetings, it insisted that execution depends on Israel fulfilling its prior commitments and halting its daily violations of the \u201cceasefire\u201d that officially came into effect last October.<\/p>\n

Since the broader \u201cceasefire\u201d agreement took effect, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,260 Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem stated that the Cairo talks focused on placing mediators and the Board of Peace in full view of Israeli violations, emphasising that any progress requires binding Israel to the agreed-upon roadmap.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who also met Kushner, reiterated the necessity for all parties to respect the commitments made under the October 2025 Sharm el-Sheikh peace framework.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United States envoy Jared Kushner is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for high-stakes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[41,38,655,44,496,1411,37,497,49,42,498,51,57],"class_list":["post-252771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-egypt","tag-explainer","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-israel","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-palestine","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}