US envoy Jared Kushner is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after holding talks with Hamas leaders in Egypt aimed at reviving a US-backed Gaza peace plan that Israel has so far rejected.
The meeting comes two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump's Gaza plan, which Netanyahu has refused to support, insisting any settlement must ensure the group is "genuinely disarmed".
Kushner met Hamas's new leader Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El-Alamein on Sunday, sources with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
Kushner pushed for Hamas to take "concrete, verifiable steps" and relayed a message that "Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel", said one source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
Hamas again voiced its commitment to the plan, another source said.
The Palestinian resistance group said afterwards that it had called on mediators and Trump's so-called Board of Peace to "compel" Israel to "approve the roadmap... and begin establishing a timetable for its implementation".
A picture released by host Egypt did not include al-Hayya, but showed Kushner at a table alongside members of the Board of Peace, including British former prime minister Tony Blair. Qatar and Türkiye, key mediators alongside Egypt, also joined.
The United States refused contact for years with Hamas which led the October 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel followed by an Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.
But the Trump administration has increasingly been comfortable with direct contact in hopes of ending the devastating conflict, negotiating the October ceasefire agreement that led to the release of remaining Israeli hostages.
Muslim states press Israel
The three regional mediator countries and five fellow Muslim nations -- Türkiye, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Indonesia -- on Sunday condemned Israel's rejection of the plan.
In a joint statement, they said "Israel bears direct and full responsibility" for obstructing peace, adding its refusal "directly threatens to derail extensive efforts" by Trump.
In response, Netanyahu's Likud Party charged that "the Arab countries want to bring down the prime minister" in the election.
The inclusion of the UAE is significant as it normalised relations with Israel five years ago, kickstarting an economic and strategic relationship that Netanyahu considers a key achievement.
Netanyahu expressed opposition to the US plan even after he was assured by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza, that Israel would not need to pull troops out of the war-battered territory until complete disarmament by Hamas.
The board had initially said Israel would start a phased withdrawal in tandem with Hamas's disarmament.
Israel has resumed air strikes and opened fire in Gaza, injuring several Palestinians in Nuseirat and Khan Yunis in the past hours.
At least 1,262 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli atrocities since the October 10 ceasefire, according to Palestine’s health ministry in Gaza.
