On August 17, 2026, US envoy Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem and agreed that an American general would verify that Hamas has been disarmed before any Israeli military withdrawal or reconstruction takes place in Gaza [1, 2, 3, 4]. A senior Israeli official said, “No redeployment or reconstruction would take place in the Gaza Strip before Hamas is disarmed throughout Gaza.” The same official added the “first step toward the demilitarisation of the Strip would be to require Hamas to hand over its weapons for decommissioning under the supervision of an American general.”
Netanyahu emphasized that Israel will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas and other armed groups are completely disarmed [1, 3]. Kushner echoed this warning, stating, “If they don't follow through now on their commitment, everyone will see that they're not genuine about peace, and then Israel will have a lot more support from the U.S. and others to go and finish the job in the appropriate way.”
The current framework for Gaza’s peace involves the US-led "Board of Peace," which includes figures such as Tony Blair and Nickolay Mladenov. This board oversees a phased ceasefire, disarmament, and reconstruction plan [1, 3, 4]. Hamas publicly committed to this Gaza peace plan on July 30, agreeing to a roadmap for decommissioning weapons under supervision by the International Stabilisation Force led by US Major General Jasper Jeffers [1, 2].
Kushner held rare direct talks with Hamas leaders and the new Palestinian technocratic government in Egypt on August 16 to discuss commitments to the peace plan alongside Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya [1, 4]. Speaking about the timeline, Kushner said, "We could be seeing progress... in as little as 30 days, hopefully starting to take some of the weapons out, and hopefully, you know, filling in some of the tunnels as well." [2]
The next step is for disarmament efforts to begin within 30 days of August 17, 2026, contingent on compliance with the agreed roadmap [2]. Israel’s national elections are scheduled for October 27, 2026 [3].
