Star Metro - Hamas expects meeting with Kushner as US pushes Gaza plan

Two weeks after Hamas publicly signed on to the latest phase of the deal, Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, flew to Egypt ahead of expected talks on Monday in Jerusalem.

"Mediators informed Hamas that US envoy Jared Kushner will hold a meeting with the Hamas leadership, in the presence of Egyptian and Qatari officials, before Kushner travels to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," a Hamas source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya traveled late Saturday to the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El-Alamein in his first trip since taking over the Gaza-based Islamist movement last month.

A second Hamas source said that the United States had sought clarifications from Hamas on several points including on "genuine, rather than merely symbolic, collection, consolidation and storage of weapons, as well as Hamas's complete relinquishment of governance of Gaza".

Hamas on July 30 said that it would hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body as part of the latest stage in a Gaza ceasefire declared by Trump, who hailed their agreement as a "major milestone".

But Netanyahu, a longtime hawk who faces a tough re-election fight in October, said that Israel rejected the agreement and voiced scepticism that Hamas would actually give up its weapons.

Netanyahu voiced opposition to the plan even after he was assured by Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza high representative in Trump's "Board of Peace" set up to implement the deal, that Israel would not need to pull troops out of the Gaza Strip until complete disarmament by Hamas.

The board had initially said that Israel would start a phased withdrawal in tandem with Hamas's disarmament.

The United States for years refused contact with Hamas, which it classifies as a terrorist organisation and which led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

But the Trump administration has increasingly been comfortable with direct contact in hopes of ending the devastating war, negotiating the October ceasefire agreement that led to the release of remaining Israeli hostages.

There was no immediate confirmation of a meeting between Kushner and Hamas by the United States.

A Board of Peace official earlier said that Kushner and Mladenov hoped for "constructive conversations" with Netanyahu, and that "the United States and Israel agree on the end state, which is a demilitarised Hamas".

- Israel keeps up strikes -

Kushner discussed the Gaza plan with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a meeting that "emphasised the need for all parties to fulfill their obligations under the Gaza Strip ceasefire agreement", according to presidential spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennawy.

Hamas's Al-Hayaa met on Sunday with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and "reaffirmed commitment" to the Trump plan, Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency said.

A Hamas official had told AFP the delegation would brief Egypt on Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.

Israel has resumed airstrikes in Gaza after a lull following Trump's promotion of the peace plan, though the October ceasefire had never fully halted the violence in the Strip.

Several people were injured Sunday after Israeli aircraft targeted a house west of Nuseirat, said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, which serves as a rescue service under Hamas.

The Israeli military said it was responding to a threat by Islamic Jihad militants and that it tried to mitigate civilian casualties.

"The terrorists advanced terror attacks and were struck in precise aerial strikes to remove the threat," it said.

Several others were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on tents housing displaced people west of Khan Yunis, where separately the body of a child, Suhail Shallouf, was recovered after he was killed by Israeli fire on Saturday, the civil defence agency said.

Israeli operations have killed at least 1,262 Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, according to figures by Gaza's health ministry, which is under Hamas. Its figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.

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W.Fortin--SMC