Kushner meets with Netanyahu after rare Hamas talks over stalled Gaza plan

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after rare talks with the leader of Hamas, in a new push to revive the peace plan for Gaza that Israel has rejected. As the U.S. tries to advance the fragile ceasefire brokered in October, Kushner met with a delegation led by Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Sunday, a Hamas official briefed on the matter told NBC News. Details of Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu were not immediately clear. The U.S. and Israel have shown rare public divisions over the road map for the future of the Palestinian enclave, as well as the Israeli government’s approach to a mounting crisis in the occupied West Bank. The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Netanyahu faces growing domestic pressure ahead of October elections, including from the far-right faction upon which his fragile coalition government relies. Powerful National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned efforts toward peace over the weekend and called for the “targeted” killing of “30 or 40” people in Gaza every night. Netanyahu earlier this month rejected the 15-point plan, which requires Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, with the Israeli leader vowing there would be no military pull-out until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed.” Hamas on Monday welcomed a joint statement from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemning Israel’s rejection of the road map. Hamas has said it will disarm, but that Israel must end its strikes and begin withdrawing from Gaza. It has also previously said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would unfold later in the process, would be contingent on the international recognition of a Palestinian state, a demand Israel’s current government rejects. Kushner was expected to be accompanied in both Middle East meetings by Nickolay Mladenov, a former member of the European Parliament and Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is also an executive board member, a Board of Peace official told NBC News over the weekend. The official said the U.S. and Israel agreed on the “end state” of talks, “which is a demilitarized Hamas.” “We will hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps,” the official had said of the meeting with Netanyahu. “What is critical is that we both agree on the desired outcome and are finding ways to accelerate progress.” But many in Israel do not want to proceed with the Trump-backed plan. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, who was one of the last living hostages released from captivity after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, Ben-Gvir condemned efforts to advance the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Instead, he called for more bloodshed in the Palestinian territory, which already faces near-daily Israeli strikes despite the truce. More than 1,200 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began, according to the health ministry in the enclave. The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas militants. At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza in that same time, according to Reuters. “It’s no secret that I disagreed with the prime minister,” Ben-Gvir said. “I think we need to carry out targeted killings in Gaza — take out 30 or 40 every night.” “Not just those who pose a threat to you at that particular moment,” he continued. “There are people there who are not human beings. They don’t deserve to live. They’re not even people. I’m paying them a compliment by calling them people.” The comments reflected similar statements made by Israeli officials throughout the conflict in Gaza, some of which have been cited in a case before the United Nations’ International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in its military campaign. The U.S. and Israel have staunchly rejected the accusation. Ben-Gvir also called for the mass emigration of Palestinians from the enclave, saying on the podcast that “I see all of Gaza as ours.” His comments come days after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the Israeli military to draw up plans to hand over security operations in the West Bank, including the policing of Israeli settlers, to the Israel Police, of which Ben-Gvir has parliamentary oversight. Israeli settlers have been besieging homes in the Palestinian village of Qusra for more than a week, with the Israeli military failing to end the violent intimidation campaign. The siege earned a rare rebuke from the U.S., with Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee branding the settlers “Israeli terrorists” and describing their “horrific act of terror” as “disgusting.” Settler attacks in the West Bank have been on the rise since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage. Since then, more than 73,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave, with much of the territory destroyed.