Netanyahu meets US envoy Jared Kushner

Jerusalem, August 17 - President Donald Trump's envoy, Jared Kushner, conversed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his discussions with Hamas leaders, in an attempt to revive a Gaza peace plan that Israel has thus far declined to accept. This meeting occurred two weeks after the Palestinian Islamist organization endorsed the latest phase of Trump's Gaza plan, which Netanyahu has been reluctant to endorse, insisting that any agreement must ensure the group is "genuinely disarmed".

Kushner met Hamas's new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, in El-Alamein, Egypt, on Sunday, according to sources familiar with the discussions, marking another unprecedented dialogue between the United States and a group classified as terrorists. Netanyahu is anticipated to privately meet with Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on Trump's "Board of Peace", which is spearheading the plan.

It is also reported that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, now a senior Board of Peace official, might attend. The Hamas official communicated to Kushner that the group is committed to the Gaza plan and desires pressure on Netanyahu, stating that Hamas is awaiting the US administration's response concerning Israel's stance on the agreement.

The administration has become progressively more amenable to engaging directly with Hamas in the pursuit of ending the destructive conflict, and negotiated the October ceasefire agreement that led to the release of remaining Israeli hostages. Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in October, has become increasingly willing to defy Trump, whose support he once championed in his campaign.

The prime minister has also made it clear his dissatisfaction with Trump's decision to halt the US-Israeli war on Iran and instead pursue a settlement with Tehran's clerical leaders. After initially expressing mild criticism of the Gaza plan, Netanyahu stated last week that he opposed it and vowed not to withdraw troops from the Palestinian territory, despite Mladenov's assurance that Israel would not need to withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.

In a recent interview, Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's cabinet, called for mass killings in Gaza. "I think targeted eliminations should be conducted in Gaza every night. Take out 30 or 40," Ben Gvir stated on a podcast with a former Gaza hostage. "Not just those who endanger you at the moment.

Those are individuals who shouldn't be alive," he said, "I'm giving them a compliment by calling them humans." On Sunday, eight Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, which have a close relationship with Israel, denounced Israel's rejection of the Gaza plan in a joint statement. Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza following a period of relative calm since the promotion of the peace plan, though the October ceasefire did not fully cease the violence in the Strip.

The Israeli military has reported at least 1,265 Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire began on October 10, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas and considered reliable by the United Nations. Israeli forces have also suffered five casualties during Gaza operations over the same period.