TEL AVIV — The president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday in Jerusalem but made little progress toward fulfilling a plan for complete demilitarization of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
In a statement following the meeting, President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace said it had agreed with Israel’s insistence that there would be no pullout of the Israel Defense Forces from Gaza before all Hamas weapons, tunnels and infrastructure are gone.
One senior Board of Peace official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the post-meeting statement was worded carefully to avoid conflict and take into account Israel’s contentious national election in October, in which Gaza will be a central issue.
The talks with Kushner were intended to find breathing space between two seemingly irreconcilable views and keep the talks alive at least through the fall, the official added.
The Israelis are “going to give us some space over the next few weeks to see if we can get this disarmament process … fast-tracked, move forward and give it a chance,” the Board of Peace official said.
The official pointed to a planned humanitarian housing project in southern Gaza for about 50,000 Palestinians that would serve as a trial initiative to clear a small zone of Hamas and its weapons, allowing Israeli forces to pull back.
The 15-point plan, touted as a breakthrough by Trump in late July, called for Israeli forces to withdraw in concert with Hamas disarmament.
But hopes of implementing the peace plan were brought to a standstill a few days later, when Netanyahu — in a stark break with Washington — said that the timing was unacceptable and that Israel would not withdraw until all Hamas weapons were gone.
For its part, Hamas has demanded that Israel cease all military attacks, which have killed more than 1,000 Gazans since the ceasefire began in October, as a “first step” toward disarmament.
Israel contends that its strikes, which also have killed civilians, are permitted under Trump’s original peace plan as self-defense against imminent attacks from Hamas.
In the coming weeks, the Board of Peace will establish a commission to determine whether Israeli attacks comply with the original restrictions on responding to “imminent” threats, according to the Board of Peace official.
During the meeting, the two sides also agreed on establishing working groups on disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza and another to focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza, the Board of Peace said in its statement.
Kushner was joined by the group’s director, Nickolay Mladenov, and former British prime minister Tony Blair, a member of the body’s executive board.
The Board of Peace was set up in the aftermath of the 2025 ceasefire deal to release the remaining hostages that Hamas seized during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
On Sunday, Kushner held rare talks with a Hamas delegation in Egypt seeking to advance the stalled Gaza peace deal. The meeting was with Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s new leader, the Associated Press reported. A Hamas official told The Washington Post that al-Hayya was in Egypt for talks and that the delegation met with all mediators.
The Hamas official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting, said the group’s talks with Kushner focused on the 15-point plan, which Hamas has accepted, and their objections to Israel’s opposition.
Israel is also under pressure from the United Arab Emirates, which joined with other predominantly Muslim countries Sunday in condemning Netanyahu’s refusal to move forward with Trump‘s plan.
Last week, a U.S. official told The Post that Israel is not being asked to “rely on trust or to make irreversible moves before verified steps are taken on the ground.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters, the official added that the objective “remains the full decommissioning of weapons and ensuring Gaza can never again pose the kind of threat Israel faced on October 7.”
Netanyahu is fighting for political survival in the October election. Polls show him trailing major opponents, and analysts said that he is less likely to make any major commitments in an election year.
“Netanyahu does not want people saying he approved withdrawals” before the elections, said Gayil Talshir, a political analyst at the Hebrew University.
Kobi Michael, a former official in Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said American pressure may not yield results except for a limited Israeli redeployment along the Yellow Line, the boundary separating areas in Gaza under Israeli military control.
Speaking last week at a government meeting, Netanyahu presented himself as someone who can say no to Trump.
“We can and know how to stand our ground, even against our best friends when necessary,” he said.
DeYoung and Yang reported from Washington, and El Chamma from Beirut. Suzan Haidamous in Beirut contributed to this report.
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