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US envoy Jared Kushner has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Israel Defense Forces will not be forced to withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed, Bloomberg reports, citing an official familiar with the negotiations.
Kushner met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, a day after holding talks with a Hamas leader in Egypt. According to a representative of Trump’s Board of Peace, the United States and Israel agreed that there would be no withdrawal or redeployment of Israeli forces from Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed and the territory is fully demilitarized.
The conditions are likely to be rejected by Hamas, which insists that Israel must first withdraw its forces from Gaza before the group gives up its weapons.
The proposed disarmament would include the complete removal of both light and heavy weapons from Gaza, as well as the dismantling of Hamas tunnels.
Dispute threatens Gaza peace plan
The disagreement highlights the difficulties facing Kushner and Trump’s Board of Peace in trying to finalize a Gaza agreement and weakens hopes for a swift settlement.
The dispute comes despite Trump’s claim at the end of July that the Board had reached an agreement on Hamas’s disarmament. He described the deal as a “monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.”
The proposal calls for Hamas to disarm, authority in Gaza to be transferred to a new Palestinian administration and Israeli forces to withdraw from the enclave.
Netanyahu, however, rejected the roadmap proposed by the Board of Peace, the international group established to advance Trump’s vision for Gaza’s postwar future.
After Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu, the prime minister’s office described the talks with the Board of Peace as “deep and constructive.”
Israel and the Board agreed that demilitarization should take place quickly and be completed before reconstruction of Gaza begins. They also agreed to establish two working groups, one focused on disarmament and the other on sanitation and healthcare in Gaza.
Hamas demands Israeli withdrawal first
Hamas has said it is prepared to hand over heavy weapons to a proposed new Gaza administration, but only after Israeli forces withdraw and a Palestinian state is established.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem called on Trump to pressure Israel to honor existing agreements and move forward with the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.
The original Trump proposal envisioned a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, followed by discussions on a possible Palestinian state after the territory was fully demilitarized and stabilized and Hamas removed from power.
The first phase of the ceasefire under Trump’s plan was reached in October last year. Since then, however, there has been little progress toward a long-term settlement, while Israeli forces have advanced beyond positions set out in the ceasefire agreement.
