Blair and Kushner met with Hamas ahead of crunch talks with Netanyahu aimed at saving 15-point roadmap for peace in Gaza

By SAM GREENHILL, THE CHIEF REPORTER Published: 14:44, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 14:57, 17 August 2026 Sir Tony Blair and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner held a surprise meeting with Hamas leaders before crunch talks with Israel's prime minister today to salvage the Gaza peace deal. The former Prime Minister and the US envoy met the terror group in Egypt to discuss disarmament. Israel still controls much of Gaza and refuses to withdraw until Hamas disarms. There has been deadlock since the peace deal agreement struck in October to end the Gaza war and rebuild the territory. On Sunday, Sir Tony – a member of the Board of Peace's executive board set up to rebuild Gaza – was in Cairo with Mr Kushner for a two-hour meeting with Hamas leaders who are classified by the US, UK and others as terrorists. They pushed them to give up weaponry. Then today, the pair met for one hour with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - days after he rejected the 15-point, US-backed roadmap to move the ceasefire deal forward. Jared Kushner (second on left), the US Special Envoy for Peace, met with Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair attending the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington in February 2026 Hamas senior official Khalil al-Hayya pictured at a news conference in Damascus, Syria, in October 2022 Hamas says it has agreed to the roadmap, which includes disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the US-created Board of Peace to 'compel' Israel to sign up to it. But Israel, which under the roadmap must gradually withdraw from Gaza, says Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal.  The new leader of Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya, emerged as a pivotal figure in the militant group during the Gaza war as Israel assassinated its other leaders. He served as part of a five-member council that ran the group from 2024 after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar - one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023, attacks that ignited the Gaza war. Hayya was named Hamas' overall leader in July, having narrowly escaped assassination himself in a 2025 Israeli airstrike in Qatar that killed his son and aides. Sunday's historic Cairo meeting marked Hayya's second meeting with Mr Kushner, having met in October 2025 with US envoy Steve Witkoff helping to clinch a deal that led to a ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages. The meetings have marked a departure from Washington's longstanding policy of shunning Hamas. The focus of the meeting was to get Hamas to agree to disarm the terrorist group as part of the next point of the US peace plan When he was Prime Minister, Sir Tony's meetings with the leadership of the IRA eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement after 30 years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. There is a lot at stake in Gaza, including the lives of some two million Palestinians, reconstruction of the war-demolished enclave and future control over it.  Several regional powers including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a statement on Sunday condemning Israel's rejection of the roadmap, saying, 'Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza'. Other signers included Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and the ceasefire mediators. The foreign ministers' statement called on the Board of Peace and the US to take 'immediate and concrete measures' to keep any party from obstructing the plan's implementation. Israel had no immediate response. Last week, Israel rejected Trump's 15-point plan for peace, which also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw and for Gaza to be rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration. The rejection came after the president's Board of Peace said it had reached an agreement for the 'complete disarmament' of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza last month.