Kushner and Netanyahu agree U.S. general should oversee Hamas 'demilitarization,' source says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump's son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner on Monday agreed that the Gaza Strip's "demilitarization" should start with a Hamas weapons handover supervised by an American military general, according to a senior Israeli official. The agreement came during an hourslong meeting, which followed rare talks between the leader of Hamas, Kushner and other members of Trump's Board of Peace — part of a renewed push to revive a Gaza peace plan endorsed by Trump and Hamas but rejected by Israel. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the details of the meeting provided by the senior Israeli official. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined Netanyahu and Kushner. A board official told NBC News this weekend that former European Parliament lawmaker Nickolay Mladenov, now Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, was also expected to attend. Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed that no reconstruction of Gaza should begin before Hamas is disarmed and that "necessary measures" should be taken to "address sanitation and environmental concerns," the official added. Netanyahu "made it clear" that the Israel Defense Forces will not redeploy but that it would "continue to thwart" threats to its forces and the residents of Israel, the official said. In a statement, Netanyahu's office did not confirm the details given by the Israeli official, instead saying only that the meeting had agreed to establish two working groups: one focusing on disarmament and demilitarization and the other centering on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues "for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel." Both Israel and the Board of Peace agree that the disarmament and demilitarization piece "should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza," the prime minister's office said. The U.S. and Israel have shown rare public divisions over the road map for the future of the Palestinian enclave, as well as the Israeli government's approach to a mounting crisis in the occupied West Bank. The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Netanyahu faces growing domestic pressure ahead of Israeli elections in October, including from the far-right faction upon which his fragile coalition government relies. Netanyahu earlier this month rejected Trump's 15-point plan, which would require Hamas' disarmament and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, with the Israeli leader vowing that there would be no military pullout until Hamas is "genuinely disarmed." Earlier Monday, Hamas welcomed a joint statement from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemning Israel's rejection of the road map. Hamas has said that it will disarm but that Israel must end its strikes and begin withdrawing from Gaza. It has also previously said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would unfold later in the process, would be contingent on the international recognition of a Palestinian state, a demand Israel's current government rejects. A Board of Peace official told NBC News over the weekend that the U.S. and Israel agreed on the "end state" of talks, "which is a demilitarized Hamas." "We will hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps," the official had said of the meeting with Netanyahu. "What is critical is that we both agree on the desired outcome and are finding ways to accelerate progress." But many in Israel do not want to proceed with the Trump-backed plan. Powerful National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned efforts to advance the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski, who was one of the last living hostages released from captivity after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, he called for the "targeted" killing of "30 or 40" people in Gaza every night. Israel's near-daily strikes have killed around 1,200 people in Gaza since the ceasefire began, according to the health ministry in the enclave. "It's no secret that I disagreed with the prime minister," Ben-Gvir said on a podcast hosted by Rom Braslavski. "I think we need to carry out targeted killings in Gaza — take out 30 or 40 every night."