Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East negotiator, met for more than two hours Sunday with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt, a rare direct encounter aimed at rescuing the US-backed Gaza roadmap after Israel's public rejection of the plan — with a meeting between Kushner and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set for Monday in Jerusalem.

The meeting with al-Hayya, who took over as Hamas chief in July, was confirmed by a regional official and a Hamas official. Kushner was one of a trio of envoys in the room, joined by officials from mediating countries Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. According to the regional official, the session was designed to lock in Hamas's commitment to the roadmap — particularly its disarmament provisions — before Kushner sits down with Netanyahu.

A source familiar with the talks said the discussions focused on translating the plan negotiated by Trump's Board of Peace into concrete, verifiable steps: maintaining the ceasefire, beginning the transfer of governing responsibilities to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ensuring Hamas has no future role in governing the territory, facilitating Israeli withdrawals, and deploying an international stabilization force. The same source said that to move forward "there can be no ambiguity" — Hamas must relinquish governing authority, all weapons, and military infrastructure, and Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel.

Kushner also met Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with a statement carried by Egypt's state broadcaster saying the two stressed the need for "all parties to implement their obligations under the ceasefire agreement." The White House referred questions to the Board of Peace, which did not immediately comment. A precedent hangs over the trip: a meeting between Kushner, envoy Steve Witkoff, and Hamas leaders in Egypt last year helped clinch the October 2025 ceasefire that ended major military operations and freed the remaining hostages.

The Impasse the Trip Is Meant to Break

The 15-point roadmap, published July 30 by the Board of Peace, calls for Hamas to hand its weapons to the Palestinian technocratic committee while Israeli forces halt attacks and withdraw in phases, with an International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian police force assuming security duties. The plan gave the parties two weeks to agree on a timetable and implementation process — a 14-day negotiation period that cannot begin until all sides approve the document.

Netanyahu rejected the plan last week in a rare open break with Israel's closest ally, telling his cabinet the military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed" and that disarmament must cover "heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry." Israeli officials argue the roadmap departs from Trump's original 20-point framework by allowing the Palestinian administration and international force to deploy before Hamas fully disarms. The Board of Peace maintains the two documents are consistent, and clarified August 3 that Israeli forces would not withdraw beyond the "yellow line" bisecting Gaza until the decommissioning of Hamas's weapons and tunnels is complete.

Hamas, which accepted the plan, used Sunday's meeting to press its own conditions. The Hamas official said al-Hayya demanded Israel halt its attacks and pull back to the yellow line before implementation begins — a line never precisely defined, and one Israeli forces have moved well beyond. Israel now controls roughly 60% of the territory, and Netanyahu said in May the next step was 70%, with Israel "tightening the grip" on Hamas "from every direction." In a statement after the meeting, Hamas called on mediators and the Board of Peace to "compel" Israel to approve the roadmap. The group has also linked surrendering its heaviest weapons to the creation of a Palestinian state, which Israel's government rejects.

Regional Powers Turn Up the Pressure on Israel

Hours before the Netanyahu meeting, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the three mediating countries issued a joint statement condemning Israel's rejection, declaring that "Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza." The statement urged the Board of Peace and the US to take "immediate and concrete measures" to prevent any party from blocking implementation.

Netanyahu's Likud party fired back Sunday, claiming "Arab states want to topple" the prime minister so that centrist challenger Gadi Eisenkot and center-left leader Yair Golan "will give them everything they want. That will not happen." The exchange underscored the political backdrop: Netanyahu faces an October 27 election atop a coalition that includes ministers taking a hard line on Gaza, and it is unclear whether he will take decisive steps on the ceasefire before voters weigh in.

What Monday's Meeting Must Untangle

Kushner travels to Jerusalem with Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to "hear the concerns that have been raised" and find ways to advance the agreement, a board official said. "What is critical is that we both agree on the desired outcome and are finding ways to accelerate progress." Axios reported the talks will address "corresponding steps" for Israel to take.

The stakes extend beyond the negotiating table. Some 2 million people remain packed into the portion of Gaza not under Israeli control, more than 10 months after the ceasefire halted major operations, with reconstruction and the deployment of international forces on hold pending the disarmament dispute. Since the ceasefire took effect, Israeli fire has killed more than 1,200 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry, though Israeli officials say approval procedures for targeted strikes have been tightened following a request from Mladenov to give the talks room — negotiations he has described as "slow, grinding and technical work."

The technocratic committee meant to govern Gaza has yet to enter the territory. Whether it ever does may turn on whether one weekend of shuttle diplomacy can accomplish what two weeks of public deadlock has not: getting both signatures on a timetable that each side insists the other must move first to earn.