US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner held rare talks with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on August 16, 2026, aiming to implement a 15-point peace plan for Gaza backed by the United States [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The plan calls for the complete disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and governance by a new Palestinian civilian administration [1, 2, 3, 4, 6].
Eight Muslim countries, including Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's rejection of the plan [1, 2]. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the roadmap last week, insisting there will be no Israeli troop withdrawal or redeployment until Hamas is fully disarmed. Netanyahu said, "Israel rejects the Board of Peace's 15-point document on Gaza. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed" [1].
On August 17, Kushner met Netanyahu to press him to accept the peace roadmap and to avoid creating obstacles in its implementation. An Israeli source quoted by CNN said Kushner told Netanyahu, "Do not create obstacles in the implementation of the plan" [1, 2, 4, 6]. Kushner described the discussions as "very, very good," adding that Hamas "said all the right things but we will wait and see their actions and steps" [6].
Hamas representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the disarmament roadmap during talks but demanded that Israel fully withdraw from Gaza first. Both sides dispute the sequence of the implementation steps, with Hamas demanding withdrawal before disarmament and Israel insisting on the reverse order [2, 7].
The ceasefire that ended major fighting in Gaza came into effect on October 10, 2025, but Israeli military operations and airstrikes have continued sporadically since then [1, 7, 6]. One day after Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu, an Israeli airstrike killed six Palestinians in Gaza on August 18, 2026 [7].
Kushner’s meeting with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya was the first at this level since the ceasefire agreement last year [1, 3, 4]. The next key step will be whether Netanyahu agrees to reconsider the troop withdrawal or if Hamas makes tangible moves toward disarmament.
