Trump envoy Kushner meets Hamas leader to push Gaza peace plan

US P eside t Do ald T ump’s Middle East e voy Ja ed Kush e has held a e talks with Hamas to discuss the impleme tatio of the US-backed Gaza peace pla .

A Palesti ia official told the BBC T ump’s so -i -law met a delegatio led by Hamas’s ew leade Khalil al-Hayya i Egypt o Su day.

Last mo th, T ump’s Boa d of Peace said it had eached ag eeme t fo the “complete disa mame t” of Hamas a d othe a med g oup i Gaza. Last week, Is ael ejected T ump’s 15-poi t pla which also calls fo Is aeli t oops to withd aw a d fo Gaza to be ebuilt u de a ew civilia Palesti ia admi ist atio .

Eight Muslim cou t ies issued a stateme t o Su day co dem i g Is ael’s ejectio .

T ump leads the Boa d of Peace – c eated as a i te atio al o ga isatio o igi ally i te ded to b i g peace to Gaza, but late expa ded to i clude co flicts wo ldwide.

Kush e ‘s meeti g with Hayya is said to be the fi st at this level si ce last yea ‘s ag eeme t of a ceasefi e fo the Gaza St ip.

Acco di g to epo ts, Boa d of Peace e voys Nickolai Mlade ov a d UK ex-P ime Mi iste To y Blai we e also pa t of the meeti g – alo gside ep ese tatives of Egypt, Qata a d Tu key, which have mediated i the peace effo ts.

No official stateme t has bee eleased of the talks epo tedly focusi g o co c ete actio s to decommissio Hamas’s weapo s – as well as the withd awal of Is aeli t oops a d huma ita ia effo ts.

Whilst i Egypt, Kush e also met Egyptia P eside t Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Acco di g to Is aeli media epo ts, Kush e , Mlade ov a d Blai will meet Neta yahu o Mo day with the aim of adva ci g T ump’s pla .

The Is aeli p ime mi iste has said he wa ts a full Hamas disa mame t fi st i o de to impleme t the deal.

“Is ael ejects the Boa d of Peace’s 15-poi t docume t o Gaza. The IDF will ot ca y out a y withd awal u til Hamas is ge ui ely disa med,” Neta yahu said last week defyi g Is ael’s closest ally.

I a joi t stateme t o Su day, Egypt, UAE, Qata , Saudi A abia, Jo da , Tu key, Pakista a d I do esia said Is ael’s ejectio of the US pla th eate ed T ump’s effo ts fo peace.

The ceasefi e, which came i to effect o 10 Octobe last yea , emai s i place.

Howeve , the Is ael Defe se Fo ces have ca ied out seve al st ikes i Gaza si ce the – the latest o “te o ists” i Kha Yu is a d Nusei at a eas of Gaza – accusi g Hamas of b eaki g the t uce.

The wa was t igge ed by the Hamas-led attack o southe Is ael o 7 Octobe 2023, i which about 1,200 people we e killed a d 251 othe s we e take hostage.

Is ael espo ded to the attack by lau chi g a milita y campaig i Gaza, du i g which mo e tha 73,000 people have bee killed, acco di g to the te ito y’s health mi ist y, whose figu es a e co side ed eliable by the UN.

The UN estimates that about 1.9 millio people – 90% of Gaza’s populatio – have bee displaced si ce the wa sta ted.