US envoy Jared Kushner said on Monday that he hopes that the process of disarming Hamas will begin within about 30 days, in parallel with making progress in implementing President Donald Trump’s plan regarding the Gaza Strip.
Kushner said, in an interview with a journalist from Fox News in Tel Aviv: “We may see progress within only about 30 days, with the start of withdrawing some of the weapons, as we hope, and perhaps also filling in some of the tunnels during the next sixty to ninety days.”
He continued: "Progress may be achieved very soon, but we need cooperation from both sides."
Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, explained that he held a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which lasted for about four hours, and gave him reassurances on several controversial points.
Kushner said that the Israeli side expressed "some legitimate concerns."
He pointed out that the Trump administration is committed to helping in the reconstruction of Gaza, but he said: “But we will not allow the reconstruction of Gaza before it is disarmed. No one wants to pump more money into a place... if terrorists will seize it again,” as he described it.
He continued: "We will not restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are imminent threats, so we had to clarify what that means."
Kushner considered that Israel would be a "winner in any case" whether Hamas proceeds with disarmament "voluntarily during the next sixty to ninety days," or the movement refuses to do so, as "Israel will receive much greater support from the United States and other parties to proceed with completing the mission in the appropriate manner."
Kushner noted that he held a "very cordial" meeting with Hamas officials, but said: "It is very, very difficult to trust a terrorist organization."
Kushner had agreed earlier Monday with Netanyahu that an American officer would supervise the process of disarming Hamas, according to what an Israeli official told Agence France-Presse.
The agreement came during talks held by Kushner and Netanyahu in Jerusalem, as part of American efforts to push the implementation of Trump’s plan regarding Gaza, after Israel rejected the latest proposed road map for its implementation.
The Israeli official said that the two sides agreed that the disarmament process would begin by demanding that Hamas hand over its weapons, in preparation for removing them from service, and that the process would take place under the supervision of an American officer.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted a Peace Council official as saying that Kushner and Netanyahu agreed not to redeploy Israeli forces until Hamas is completely disarmed and the Gaza Strip is demilitarized.
The official added: “All weapons, whether light or heavy, and all tunnels,” stressing that Israel reserves the right to self-defense, and that it will be able to “act accordingly” if “Hamas resorts to terrorism or violence or attempts to rearm,” as he put it.
However, the official said Netanyahu was informed that Hamas had committed to completely disarming and “immediately halting all military activities, including rearmament and tunnel digging.”
A diplomatic official, who requested to remain anonymous, said that the meeting began late Monday morning, and Nikolai Mladenov, the highest representative of Gaza in the “Peace Council” supervising efforts to implement the plan, also participated in it.
According to a statement issued by Netanyahu's office, the meeting witnessed in-depth discussions, during which it was agreed to form two working groups. The first will focus on disarmament and stripping the Gaza Strip, as Israel and the Peace Council insist on completing this process quickly and before any reconstruction work begins in the Strip.
The second working group will address issues of sanitation, clean water provision, and other public health issues that affect the residents of Gaza and also affect the residents of Israel.
The meeting came the day after talks held by Kushner and Mladenov in Egypt with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and Hamas officials participated in some of its sessions. Among them was the head of the movement, Khalil al-Hayya, who met with Kushner in El Alamein, according to sources familiar with the talks who reported to AFP.
However, Reuters reported that Kushner left Israel on Monday “without achieving progress” after two days of talks with Israel and Hamas, with both sides sticking to their main demands.
An Israeli official said that Netanyahu informed Kushner that Israel would not withdraw from the Gaza Strip before Hamas was completely disarmed.
Israeli sources added that Kushner, for his part, informed Hamas officials that the movement would not have a role in the political track before its disarmament was completed.
According to the same sources, Kushner advised the movement not to rely on the possibility of a change in the Israeli position after the parliamentary elections scheduled for October, saying that there was consensus among the Israeli parties regarding the position on the Gaza Strip.
The sources also confirmed that Kushner stressed that the United States rejects any plans to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip.
Sources familiar with his talks with Hamas told AFP that Kushner asked the movement to prove that it had given up its weapons and to give up any future role in ruling the Strip.
On the other hand, a Hamas official told the agency that the movement assured Kushner of its commitment to the plan, calling on Washington to pressure Netanyahu’s government to implement the road map.
Meanwhile, Al-Hayya met with leaders and representatives of Palestinian forces and factions in Cairo, where they were “brought up on developments in the political and field scene, and the recent meetings that took place with the sisterly Egyptian leadership, mediators and guarantors in El Alamein,” according to a Hamas statement.
“The attendees held the occupation responsible for the obstruction through its positions rejecting the road map, its denial of the first-stage understandings, and its continued daily violations and breaches,” according to the statement.
The attendees stressed "the necessity of taking serious steps to put the Palestinian house in order on the rules of national partnership and democracy, formulating a comprehensive national strategy to confront the current challenges, developing mechanisms to achieve the legitimate goals and aspirations of our people, and ensuring the right to self-determination and establishing the independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," as stated in the statement.
The disputes center around a 15-item US roadmap, agreed to by Hamas in late July, and aimed at advancing implementation of Trump's broader plan for Gaza. It stipulates the disarmament of Hamas in parallel with steps towards the withdrawal of Israeli forces and securing the Gaza Strip with an international force and a new Palestinian police force.
But Netanyahu rejected the road map, and said that Israeli forces would not withdraw from the Gaza Strip before Hamas and the rest of the armed factions were completely disarmed. Diplomatic sources tell Reuters that Israel is unlikely to make major concessions on Gaza before the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27.
On the other hand, a Hamas official, who requested to remain anonymous, told Agence France-Presse that the movement is awaiting a response from the American administration regarding Israel’s position on the agreement, stressing the movement’s adherence to the road map and its readiness to implement its obligations, including restricting and storing weapons and relinquishing power, in addition to its readiness to participate in the elections.
In early July, Hamas announced the dissolution of its civil administration in Gaza, and its intention to transfer its responsibilities to the National Committee for Managing the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian body of technocrats established by the “Peace Council” to supervise the transitional phase.
Hamas and Israel are exchanging accusations of violating the ceasefire agreement concluded in October 2025 in the devastated Strip, two years after a war that broke out with the movement launching an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people and the taking of 251 others hostage.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which more than 73,000 people were killed, including 21,280 children, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.
The United Nations estimates that about 1.9 million people, or 90 percent of Gaza's population, have been displaced since the outbreak of the war.
Since the ceasefire began, more than 1,200 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable, while UNICEF says at least 300 children have been killed, according to reports.
Others were injured as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted tents housing displaced people near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Hassan Rashad also met with a Hamas delegation headed by Al-Hayya. Agence France-Presse reported that the talks dealt with ways to advance the implementation of the roadmap, while Reuters said that Al-Hayya intended to brief the mediators on what Hamas says are Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
In a related context, eight Arab and Islamic countries condemned, on Sunday, Israel’s rejection of the road map, warning that this may hinder American efforts to end the war in Gaza.
The joint statement included Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, in addition to Türkiye, Pakistan, and Indonesia. The eight countries called for continued American involvement to push the plan's implementation and prevent its obstruction.
The diplomatic moves coincided with Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said on Sunday that it targeted members of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements in Khan Yunis and Nuseirat. Palestinian medical sources reported that a number of people were injured, and later said that one of the injured people in Khan Yunis died of his wounds.
Since the ceasefire entered into force in October 2025, Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip have not stopped completely, and the dispute over the disarmament of Hamas and the Israeli withdrawal has remained one of the most prominent obstacles to implementing the next stages of the American plan.
