Trump makes his move: Envoy Jared Kushner meets with Hamas leader in Egypt to break the deadlock on the Gaza ceasefire

The son-in-law of President Donald Trump and U.S. special envoy, Jared Kushner, held a meeting in Egypt on Sunday with Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya, as the Republican administration seeks to revive negotiations on a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that has stalled. According to several media outlets, the meeting lasted more than two hours, and the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas asked the mediators and the U.S.-created Peace Board, which oversees the ceasefire framework, to "compel" the Israeli government to accept the proposed roadmap for the next phase. Hamas also told Kushner that the group remains committed to the roadmap and is waiting for the mediators to begin a 14-day period of negotiations focused on establishing a timeline for its implementation.

According to a report by Axios, Hamas leaders asked Kushner to convey to Trump that they remained committed to disarmament. "We thanked them for their commitment, but we want to see real efforts, not just words. It was important for Kushner to get them to make this commitment personally," a source who attended the meeting and whose identity was not disclosed told the outlet. The outlet also revealed that the meeting was attended by the Peace Board's high representative, Nickolay Mladenov, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is also a member of the board, as well as the Peace Board's top advisers, Aryeh Lightstone and Liran Tancman, who accompanied Kushner during the meeting.

Kushner's meeting took place one day before he was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after Netanyahu rejected a new 15-point roadmap backed by the United States. The diplomatic effort is focused on overcoming disagreements over the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas of the Gaza Strip.

Several Arab and Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, criticized Israel's rejection of the roadmap in a joint statement. "Israel now bears the responsibility for obstructing efforts to bring peace to Gaza," the countries stated. The foreign ministers also urged the Peace Board and the United States to take "immediate and concrete measures" to prevent any party from blocking the implementation of the roadmap.