Kushner behind US pressure on Israel to accept partial Gaza pullout without full Hamas disarmament – report

Jared Kushner, not President Trump, reportedly driving US pressure on Israel over Board of Peace’s Gaza plan.

By World Israel News Staff

Jared Kushner has emerged as the key figure pressing Israel to accommodate a new US-backed Gaza roadmap, while President Donald Trump himself has so far refrained from directly pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the growing dispute, according to Israeli officials.

The distinction comes as officials in Jerusalem acknowledge for the first time that the disagreement over the Board of Peace’s 15-point plan could eventually produce a confrontation with the Trump administration.

Israel objects to a framework linking the gradual disarmament of Hamas to phased IDF withdrawals from Gaza, insisting Hamas must first be completely stripped of its weapons.

“If there is no choice, we will reach a confrontation with the Trump administration over Gaza,” Israeli diplomatic officials told Israel Hayom.

But the newspaper reported that the pressure being felt in Jerusalem is currently being driven by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy, rather than by the president personally.

That division is increasingly visible in the administration’s handling of the dispute.

Kushner has been personally engaged with Netanyahu and Palestinian intermediaries over implementing the roadmap, while Trump has publicly endorsed the initiative but has yet to personally demand that Netanyahu accept its disputed provisions.

Israel Hayom cautioned that the operative phrase in Jerusalem is “for now,” with US officials eager to produce further diplomatic progress in the Middle East.

Kushner’s hands-on role was underscored by a Channel 12 report that Netanyahu spoke with him last week and said he did not believe Hamas would ultimately disarm, but was nevertheless willing to give the US-backed initiative a chance.

Netanyahu reportedly agreed in practice to sharply restrict Israeli strikes and refrain from pushing IDF forces west of the Yellow Line while the process was tested.

The resulting restraint has already had effects on the ground.

Reuters reported that Israel substantially scaled back attacks on Hamas terrorists after Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nikolay Mladenov met Netanyahu, with Israeli officials saying the IDF would generally restrict itself to responding to immediate threats rather than carrying out the targeted killings of Hamas operatives that had been occurring almost daily.

Kushner has also served as a direct conduit to Palestinian figures involved in the process.

Former Palestinian Authority security chief Mohammad Dahlan said earlier this month that Kushner personally assured him Israel had agreed to stop attacks after Hamas and other Palestinian factions accepted the 15-point document.

“Mr. Jared Kushner confirmed to us that he agreed with the Israeli side that it will stop the attacks,” Dahlan wrote.

A senior US source quoted by Channel 12 appeared to reinforce that approach after Netanyahu publicly rejected the roadmap on Sunday. The White House was reportedly unconcerned by the prime minister’s rhetoric, regarding it partly as a product of Israel’s approaching October election.

“We are not troubled by those comments from Netanyahu,” the US source said, adding that Washington’s concern was that Israel continue complying with requests to restrain its operations in Gaza.

The 15-point roadmap does not adopt Israel’s preferred sequence for the demilitarization of Gaza.

Instead, it envisions a phased process in which weapons are decommissioned as Israeli forces progressively withdraw from areas of Gaza. An International Verification Committee would determine whether required commitments had been fulfilled before each stage could proceed, while an International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian technocratic administration would assume increasing responsibility inside the Strip.

The plan calls for heavy weapons, weapons-production facilities, stockpiles and tunnels to be decommissioned and stored under the supervision of the new Palestinian administration. Ultimately, only that administration would be permitted to possess or control weapons in Gaza.

Israeli officials are seeking to persuade Washington that Hamas is already demonstrating why the plan cannot safely be implemented as written.

Israel Hayom reported that the IDF is producing a daily dossier of alleged Hamas violations and passing it to the US administration.

One report covering August 8-9 recorded 14 incidents in 24 hours, including weapons transfers and the planting of an explosive device near the Yellow Line.

Netanyahu’s office has adopted an even harder tone privately. Officials around the prime minister were quoted by Israel Hayom as saying Israel would not proceed with the proposed process and dismissing expectations that it would as “dreams.”

Yet Netanyahu has simultaneously acknowledged that negotiations with Washington continue.

The Americans “have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel knows how to resist proposals it considers incompatible with its interests.

For now, Trump himself appears to be avoiding turning those disagreements into a personal rupture with Netanyahu.

Asked in the Oval Office Monday for his reaction to Netanyahu’s rejection of the Board of Peace plan, Trump said, “I have a response. I put it out today on Truth — a good response.”

No such statement had appeared on Truth Social by early Tuesday, and it was unclear whether Trump had misunderstood the question or intended to post something later. He separately said his relationship with Netanyahu remained “very good.”

Meanwhile, the Board of Peace is signaling that Netanyahu’s rejection has not stopped the initiative.

“The plan is very much still operative and advancing,” a Board of Peace official told Reuters, saying implementation would proceed only after commitments were verified and that discussions with Israel remained underway.

Board of PeaceDonald TrumpGaza planJared KushnerTrump administration