Middle East analyst Zvi Yehezkeli issued a sharp critique on Sunday following a meeting in Egypt between Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, and senior Hamas figures. Yehezkeli stated that the simple fact that the meeting took place constitutes a major accomplishment for the group.
During the meeting, Hamas leaders expressed willingness to transfer civil control of the Gaza Strip to a technocratic Palestinian Arab government once it is ready to assume operations.
They pledged not to interfere with its work and expressed gratitude to the Trump administration and the Board of Peace for their efforts over recent months to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
As part of his visit to Egypt, Kushner and his team also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, alongside a separate meeting held with members of the technocratic Palestinian Arab government.
Yehezkeli views sitting down with Hamas leadership as an absolute win for the terrorist organization. "The very occurrence of this meeting is a victory for Hamas - legitimizing it, granting it recognition, and paving its way for the day after," he stated during a broadcast on i24NEWS.
He noted that the meeting directly contradicts the goals set at the onset of the war: "Nearly three years after the war broke out, where the explicit objective was the military and political destruction of Hamas, watching a meeting like this unfold is truly a slap in Israel's face."
Yehezkeli urged Israel not to allow the meeting to alter its strategy toward the group: "Israel must act as though this meeting never happened and continue fighting Hamas both militarily and politically."
Concluding the segment, news anchor Miri Michaeli commented on Kushner's meeting with the senior officials, remarking, "One has to wonder if Kushner would have been willing to sit down with Hitler."