Kushner sparred with Netanyahu over targeted killing of October 7 terrorists – report

President Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner reportedly pressed Israel’s prime minister to halt attacks on Hamas terrorists involved in the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner were at odds this week over Israel’s efforts to target Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre, according to officials familiar with their talks, exposing a key obstacle to the Trump administration’s effort to advance the next stage of its Gaza peace plan.

The dispute emerged during a four-hour meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, where Kushner pressed Netanyahu to give a US-backed Hamas disarmament initiative a chance to move forward.

Netanyahu maintained that Israel must retain the ability to hunt down participants in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault regardless of whether they are posing an immediate threat at the time of a strike, an official who attended the meeting told The Times of Israel.

Kushner told the prime minister that Washington did not object to Israeli action when Hamas operatives genuinely presented an “imminent threat,” but cautioned against using that exception too broadly.

Netanyahu nevertheless insisted that operations against those involved in October 7 would continue, and the two sides failed to reach agreement on the issue.

A second source briefed on the meeting confirmed the disagreement.

The dispute centers on a longstanding Israeli campaign to track down terrorists who crossed into Israel during the October 7 invasion, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Israel has made clear to Washington in recent weeks that even if it agrees to restrict targeted killings as part of a broader Gaza settlement, it does not intend to extend such protection to perpetrators of the massacre.

That position increasingly conflicts with the framework the Trump administration is attempting to implement.

The latest US-backed plan calls for Hamas to begin surrendering its weapons while Israel takes corresponding steps, eventually including further military withdrawals. Once the disarmament mechanism is operating, both sides are supposed to halt military operations.

The original 20-point Trump plan also offered amnesty to Hamas members who “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons,” potentially creating a conflict between Israel’s determination to pursue October 7 participants and Washington’s effort to induce Hamas fighters to surrender their arms.

The issue moved from diplomatic disagreement to battlefield reality almost immediately after Kushner left Israel.

On Tuesday, the IDF struck what it said was a meeting of Hamas commanders and other operatives near Gaza City’s fishing port.

The military said several Hamas members were targeted, including one terrorist who participated in the October 7 attack and commanders who were planning attacks against Israeli troops.

Hamas health officials said six people were killed and 14 wounded when two missiles struck a small cafe in the port area.

The terrorist group accused Israel of attempting to sabotage the Trump administration’s Gaza initiative but did not say whether Hamas commanders had been killed.

The strike highlighted differences between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government over how to define imminent threats necessitating IDF intervention.

Kushner and Netanyahu agreed Monday to create a new “deconfliction” mechanism intended to bridge that divide.

Under the proposed system, Israel would alert the mechanism when it identifies suspicious Hamas activity that could develop into an attack. Mediators, including Egypt, would then raise the matter with Hamas in an effort to resolve the threat before Israel resorts to military action.

“If the Israelis see Hamas doing something that could be an emerging threat, they will report it to the deconfliction mechanism,” a US official said.

The mechanism is intended to prevent smaller incidents from escalating into renewed large-scale fighting while preserving Israel’s ability to act against immediate threats.

The disagreement over targeted killings was not the only point of friction during Monday’s meeting.

Kushner also objected to Netanyahu’s refusal to allow recruits for Gaza’s planned new Palestinian police force to leave the enclave for training in Egypt.

That police force is supposed to play an important role in the US-backed disarmament plan.

Under the proposal, Hamas would turn its weapons over to the Palestinian technocratic administration established to govern Gaza. The arms would then be transferred to an international stabilization force and destroyed.

Kushner has said he wants the first weapons transfers to begin within roughly a month.

But US officials fear that without sufficient numbers of trained Palestinian police, the structure needed to receive and secure those weapons will not exist.

Kushner arrived in Israel after holding an unusual face-to-face meeting with senior Hamas officials in Egypt on Sunday.

Hamas representatives told Kushner they remained prepared to demilitarize Gaza, according to people familiar with the talks.

Kushner told them that verbal promises were insufficient and demanded concrete action.

“We want to see real efforts and not just words,” a source familiar with the meeting said.

During Monday’s meeting, the heads of Israeli military intelligence and the Shin Bet briefed Kushner and his delegation on repeated Hamas violations of the ceasefire and efforts to rebuild military capabilities.

Netanyahu also showed Kushner polling indicating that Israeli voters oppose reconstruction of Gaza before Hamas is disarmed and support Israeli action against emerging security threats.

Despite the reported friction, the Trump administration has stressed that Israel will not be required to withdraw while Hamas remains armed.

Kushner said Monday that if Hamas fails to carry out its promised disarmament, Israel would likely gain far broader international backing for renewed military action.

“If they don’t follow through now on their commitment, everyone will see that they’re not genuine about peace,” Kushner said, adding that Israel could then receive greater support to “finish the job.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pushed back Tuesday night against reports that the meeting between Netanyahu and Kushner amounted to a confrontation.

“Where do the people get this? I was in the room,” Huckabee told Channel 12. “That simply did not happen like that.”