US Special Envoy Jared Kushner met today (Monday) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the implementation of the American 15-point peace plan for Gaza.
During the four-hour meeting, Kushner pressed Netanyahu to “not create obstacles" to the implementation of the plan, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source.
According to the report, Netanyahu told Kushner that Hamas needed to make concessions and disarm before Israel could move forward with the rest of the plan, including the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. He also stated that moving ahead with the plan before the October Knesset elections would be problematic and could hurt him with his base during the elections.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Netanyahu had agreed to create two working groups together with the Board of Peace to advance different aspects of the peace plan.
The Prime Minister's Office stated: "The Prime Minister and Board of Peace had deep and constructive discussions. It was agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarisation of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza. A second working group will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel."
At the heart of the gap between Jerusalem and Washington is the question of sequencing. The 15-point plan calls for a halt to military activity, the disarmament of Hamas, the transfer of civilian responsibility in Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic body, a gradual IDF withdrawal, and the deployment of an international stabilization force.
Under the plan, the dismantling of weapons and the Israeli withdrawal are supposed to proceed through parallel and verifiable steps. Israel, however, has made clear that it is unwilling to withdraw from its positions in Gaza before Hamas is completely disarmed, and has publicly rejected the framework in its current form.
Hamas, for its part, has announced its acceptance of the framework. During the recent talks in Egypt, in which Kushner took part, pressure was placed on the group to agree to disarmament and the transfer of governing responsibility in Gaza.
An official familiar with the talks with Hamas said the demands include steps to ensure the ceasefire is maintained, the transfer of governing responsibility to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and a guarantee that Hamas will have no role in future governance. At the same time, Hamas is being required to dismantle its weapons and military infrastructure, while an international stabilization force would be deployed, Israel would carry out parallel withdrawals, and aid and reconstruction efforts would be accelerated.
Alongside the pressure on Jerusalem, officials on the Board of Peace believe that, on the practical level, Israel is already complying with some of the understandings. According to them, they attribute some of the public statements coming from Israel to domestic political considerations and are focusing primarily on developments on the ground.
Kushner's meeting in Egypt was his first with senior Hamas officials since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. The talks were attended, among others, by Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Rashad, Qatari minister Ali al-Thawadi, and a senior Turkish official.