Hamas said Tuesday it remains committed to the U.S.-backed Gaza peace deal after White House envoy Jared Kushner held talks in Israel on steps toward the group’s disarmament.
"Hamas is committed to this agreed-upon process. It is clear that, so far, the Israeli side has not given the mediators clear approval of the roadmap," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"There are timelines and procedural steps that need to be worked out in detail, but there must first be Israeli approval of the roadmap," he said.
Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, held a rare meeting with Hamas on Sunday in Egypt before meeting the following day in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has publicly rejected the latest phase of the deal.
Kushner, in a Fox News interview after the talks, said that Hamas's disarmament could begin in about 30 days and that reconstruction of Gaza would not begin until that happens.
Kushner also said that the United States is "not going to restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats" in Gaza.
Netanyahu has demanded that Hamas fully disarm. In his talks with Kushner, the two sides agreed that a U.S. general would oversee the surrender of weapons, according to an Israeli official.
Trump's "Board of Peace" implementing the deal has also told Netanyahu that Israel does not need to start withdrawing from Gaza until full disarmament, walking back an earlier call for Israel to start a phased pullout.
Israel has kept up airstrikes in Gaza despite the peace push.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that a strike two days earlier had killed an Islamic Jihad member, who was in the Oct. 7, 2023, incursion.
Israeli violations of the Gaza cease-fire have killed at least 1,265 Palestinians since it came into effect on Oct. 10, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks from Gaza operations over the same period.
Israel blamed for stalling deal
Meanwhile, Palestinian factions held Israel responsible for stalling the completion of the Gaza cease-fire agreement, accusing it of backtracking on commitments from the first phase and continuing to violate the deal.
The factions met Monday in the Egyptian capital Cairo, according to a statement by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. The group said its political bureau chief, Khalil al-Hayya, met with leaders and representatives of Palestinian factions and briefed them on the latest political and field developments.
Al-Hayya updated the factions on recent meetings with Egyptian officials, mediators and guarantors over the previous two days and outlined the discussions and positions expressed by the various parties, the statement said.
The factions blamed Israel for obstructing the understandings "through its rejection of the roadmap, failure to honor first-phase commitments and continued daily violations of the agreement," it added.
Earlier Sunday, Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement holding Israel responsible for obstructing efforts to establish peace in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The factions also discussed developments in the occupied West Bank, including illegal settlement expansion, efforts to change the character of the territory and attacks by Israeli occupiers on Palestinians, Hamas said.
They called for efforts "to strengthen Palestinians’ resilience, ensure dignified living conditions and accelerate recovery and reconstruction" while pursuing the Palestinian people’s full rights in their homeland.
They also stressed the need for serious steps to reorganize Palestinian political affairs, confront current challenges, uphold the right to self-determination and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The occupied West Bank has seen continued attacks by Israeli occupiers and Israeli military operations since the Gaza war began, alongside the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, construction of settlement roads and increased restrictions on Palestinian movement.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its genocide on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 174,000, most of them women and children. The offensive has also caused widespread destruction, damaging about 90% of the territory’s infrastructure.