Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu delivered a firm message to US Special Envoy Jared Kushner during a four-hour meeting Monday, insisting that Hamas must disarm and make concessions before Israel takes further steps under the American-backed 15-point Gaza peace plan, including withdrawing IDF forces from the Strip.
Kushner met with Netanyahu as Washington intensifies efforts to advance implementation of the plan. During their lengthy talks, the US envoy urged the Israeli premier to “not create obstacles” to moving the agreement forward, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source.
Netanyahu responded that progress cannot come at Israel’s expense, maintaining that Hamas must first give ground and surrender its weapons before Israel proceeds with additional provisions of the framework, including an IDF pullback from Gaza. The prime minister also reportedly told Kushner that advancing the plan ahead of the October Knesset elections could create political difficulties and damage his standing among his electoral base.
Despite those disagreements, the meeting produced an agreement to establish two joint working groups between Israel and the Board of Peace, the Prime Minister’s Office announced afterward. The groups will address separate components of the Gaza framework.
The Prime Minister’s Office stated: “The Prime Minister and Board of Peace had deep and constructive discussions. It was agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza. A second working group will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel.”
The principal disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem centers on the order in which the plan’s provisions would be carried out. The 15-point framework envisions an end to military operations, Hamas disarmament, the transfer of civilian control in Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic administration, a phased Israeli military withdrawal and the establishment of an international stabilization force.
The American proposal calls for Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal to advance simultaneously through a series of steps that can be independently verified. Israel has rejected that sequencing, insisting that its forces will not relinquish their positions in Gaza until Hamas has been fully disarmed. Jerusalem has publicly said it cannot accept the framework as it currently stands.
Hamas, meanwhile, has said that it accepts the broader framework. During recent negotiations in Egypt attended by Kushner, mediators pressed the terror group to surrender its weapons and relinquish responsibility for governing Gaza.
An official familiar with the discussions with Hamas said the demands being presented to the group include measures aimed at preserving the ceasefire, transferring administrative authority to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and ensuring that Hamas is excluded from any future governing structure. Hamas would also be required to dismantle its weapons and military infrastructure, while an international stabilization force enters Gaza, Israel carries out corresponding withdrawals and humanitarian aid and reconstruction are accelerated.
Even as the Board of Peace presses Israel to move ahead, its officials reportedly believe that Jerusalem is already adhering in practice to portions of the understandings. Those officials view some of the Israeli government’s public rhetoric as driven by domestic political considerations and are therefore placing greater emphasis on Israel’s actions on the ground.
Kushner’s recent meeting in Egypt marked the first time he had met with senior Hamas figures since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Participants included Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Rashad, Qatari minister Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official.
