Talks between the U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israeli and Hamas leaders over the plan to end the war in Gaza concluded with no major breakthrough and he left Jerusalem on Monday, with both sides mainly standing firm on key demands.
Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after meeting the political leader of Hamas in Egypt in a bid to revive the plan.
Israel has carried out air strikes and seized more territory in Gaza despite an October cease-fire.
Kushner described his nearly four-hour meeting with Netanyahu as "good." Kushner added that Hamas representatives said "all the right things."
He also said that disarmament of Hamas could begin within 30 days.
"We could be seeing progress, you know, in as little as 30 days, hopefully on starting to take some of the weapons out and hopefully, you know, filling in some of the tunnels as well in the next 60 to 90 days as well," Kushner told Fox News.
Trump last month announced that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms in phases, under a 15-point road map put forward by his Board of Peace to advance his plan, as Israel's military withdraws from Gaza.
Hamas said it agreed to the road map but implementation depends on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including halting attacks and withdrawing.
Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition is trailing in opinion polls ahead of an October national election, rejected the deal this month, insisting that Israel would not pull back until Hamas is completely disarmed.
There is a lot at stake, including the lives of some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, reconstruction of the war-demolished enclave and future control over it.
Hamas says it has agreed to the road map, which includes disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the U.S.-created Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to sign on.
But Israel, which under the road map must gradually withdraw from Gaza, says Hamas must fully disarm before any withdrawal.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Board of Peace Director Nickolay Mladenov were also in the meeting with Netanyahu, according to a source familiar with the plans and a diplomatic source.
Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he and the board had agreed to establish two working groups — one on the disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza and another focused on public health issues for Gaza.
Israel and the board agreed that the demilitarization “should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction,” the statement said.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister whose job is on the line in the Oct. 27 elections, has increasingly been willing to defy Trump, whose support he once highlighted in his campaign.
The prime minister has also made clear his unhappiness with Trump's decision to halt the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran launched in late February and instead pursue a settlement with the Tehran leaders.
In an interview that generated wide attention in the Arab world, Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's cabinet, said that Israel should kill 30 to 40 people every night in Gaza.
"Not only those who endanger you right now. These are people who shouldn't be alive," he told a podcast.
