WASHINGTON, Aug 18 — Progress in getting Hamas to give up its weapons and move forward with a Gaza peace plan could materialize in about a month, US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner said Monday.
“We could be seeing progress... in as little as 30 days, hopefully starting to take some of the weapons out,” Kushner told Fox News while in Tel Aviv.
Filling in Gaza tunnels, built by Hamas to maintain the group’s military operations during Israeli bombardments and to smuggle supplies, could happen in the next 60 to 90 days, Kushner said.
“Progress could come quite soon but we do need cooperation from both sides,” he said.
Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, said he had met for nearly four hours with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally, and reassured him on several sticking points.
“There were some valid concerns” on the Israeli side, he said.
For example, the Trump administration is committed to helping to rebuild Gaza – destroyed by Israel in response to the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militants – he said.
“But we will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until the demilitarization occurs. Nobody wants to put more money into a place... if it’s just going to be taken over by terrorists,” he said.
“We’re also not going to restrict Israel’s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats and so we had to clarify what that means.”
“For Israel we think it’s a win-win situation,” Kushner said.
Either Hamas will go ahead in disarming “willingly over the next 60 to 90 days” or “Israel will have a lot more support from the US and others to go and finish the job in the appropriate way.”
Kushner said he had had a “very cordial” meeting with Hamas officials, but “it’s very, very hard to trust a terrorist organization.” — AFP
