Jared Kushner Heads to Egypt and Israel to Advance Gaza Peace Plan Amid Political Tensions

Jared Kushner, son-in-law and negotiator for U.S. President Donald Trump, is heading to the Middle East next week to push forward plans for ending the conflict in Gaza. According to the American news agency The Associated Press, Kushner will visit the region in an effort to present plans for ending the conflict in Gaza, following recent opposition from the Israeli side to an agreement announced by the Trump administration.

An official in the “Peace Council”—the body established by Trump to oversee the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas—told the American agency that Kushner, accompanied by the Council’s High Representative Nickolay Mladenov and Executive Council member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will arrive in Israel on Sunday.

The official explained that the delegation will then move on to Cairo, which has hosted meetings for several months of an approved Palestinian technocratic group designated to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip under the U.S.-sponsored ceasefire agreement. The official stated that the meetings will reflect the determination of Trump and the Peace Council to “achieve sustainable peace, prosperity, and security” in a demilitarized Gaza, where Hamas relinquishes power to allow for the reconstruction of the devastated strip.

Israel had rejected a recently announced Trump agreement providing for the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip, reflecting rare tension with the Trump administration. Despite Hamas accepting the plan to hand over its weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed in recent days that Israel will not withdraw its forces until the movement is completely disarmed.