Pressure on Israel to advance President Donald Trump’s framework for ending the Gaza war is mounting, with Jared Kushner expected to meet Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu on Monday and press for concrete steps to put the plan into effect.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, is set to travel to Israel as part of a broader regional trip with senior figures from the Board of Peace, including senior envoy Nikolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The trip will mark Kushner’s first visit to Israel since January 2026 and follows discussions he and other Board of Peace officials held with a Hamas delegation in Egypt.
Officials briefed on the discussions say Washington is approaching the current round differently from earlier negotiations. The Trump administration is no longer looking to renegotiate or revise the framework, they said, but instead wants the parties to begin carrying out commitments that have already been agreed upon.
One official familiar with the talks said the goal is to “translate the roadmap commitments into concrete and verifiable steps.” Among the measures Washington wants to see are an end to attacks in Gaza, an Israeli pullback toward the Yellow Line, a substantial expansion of humanitarian assistance entering the territory, and movement toward creating mechanisms for civilian administration and reconstruction.
The growing US pressure comes as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia and Turkey released a joint statement criticizing Israel for rejecting Trump’s plan. The countries asserted that “Israel bears responsibility for delaying peace efforts in Gaza and the Palestinian territories,” while cautioning that Israel’s position could jeopardize Trump’s effort to end the conflict.
US officials familiar with the negotiations say Trump views Netanyahu as having already accepted the framework in principle. According to those officials, the administration accommodated several requests made by the Israeli prime minister and now believes it is Israel’s turn to carry out the commitments expected of it.
One official, describing the thinking within Trump’s circle to Ynet, put the message this way: “Bibi has to agree to the deal. I did what he asked. Now he has to do what I’m asking.” Another official said the administration suspects Israel is trying to delay implementation by raising additional objections and seeking changes in the order of the plan’s provisions. “They feel Israel is playing games.”
Officials said Kushner is not traveling to Israel simply to conduct another round of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Hamas terrorists. “He is coming to get things done,” one official familiar with the talks said.
Washington’s stance is also based on Israel’s involvement in drawing up the proposal from its earlier stages. Officials familiar with the process say Israel’s National Security Council participated in developing the framework, with Israeli and US officials discussing both its provisions and mechanisms for putting them into practice. As a result, the Trump administration sees the outstanding issue not as whether a framework has been agreed upon, but whether that agreement will now be implemented.
A central disagreement between Israel and the US concerns the order in which the plan’s provisions would be carried out. The 15-point framework calls for military activity to stop, Hamas to surrender its weapons, civilian control of Gaza to be handed to a Palestinian technocratic body, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually, and an international stabilization force to enter the territory.
The framework envisions Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawals taking place through coordinated, verifiable stages. Israel has insisted, however, that its forces will not leave their positions in Gaza until Hamas has been fully disarmed and has publicly rejected the proposal in its present form.
Hamas, meanwhile, has said it accepts the framework. During Kushner’s discussions in Egypt, the terrorist group came under pressure to surrender its weapons and relinquish its governing authority in Gaza.
An official familiar with those discussions said Hamas is being pressed to take measures guaranteeing that the ceasefire remains intact, transfer governing powers to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and accept that it will have no place in Gaza’s future government. Hamas would also be required to dismantle its weapons and military infrastructure, while an international stabilization force would deploy, Israel would undertake corresponding withdrawals, and humanitarian assistance and reconstruction would be expanded.
Despite the public dispute with Israel, Board of Peace officials reportedly believe Israel is already carrying out portions of the understandings in practice. They view some of the tougher rhetoric from Israeli officials as being driven by domestic political pressures and are therefore paying greater attention to Israel’s actions on the ground than to its public statements.
Kushner’s talks in Egypt marked his first meeting with senior Hamas figures since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Participants included Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Hassan Rashad, Qatari minister Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official.
{Matzav.com}
