Netanyahu-Kushner meet: US General to monitor Hamas disarmament as Israel rejects Gaza exit before weapons handover
Netanyahu Kushner Meet: US General to Monitor Hamas Disarmament Theindiapostdaily.com – Following the Netanyahu Kushner meet in Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner — President…
Netanyahu Kushner Meet: US General to Monitor Hamas Disarmament
Theindiapostdaily.com – Following the Netanyahu Kushner meet in Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and chief American negotiator on the Gaza ceasefire — agreed that a senior US military officer would oversee the decommissioning of Hamas armaments. An Israeli official confirmed the arrangement, stressing that Jerusalem would allow neither a troop pullback nor any reconstruction effort until the militant group surrenders its full arsenal.
The understanding crystallised after hours of talks in which former UK PM Tony Blair and other members of the Trump administration’s Board of Peace participated. The session followed a day in which the American negotiator held unusually direct conversations with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt, as Washington works to revive a 15-point roadmap aimed at ending the Gaza conflict.
How the Disarmament Mechanism Works
Under the Monday arrangement, Hamas would transfer its weapons for decommissioning while an American general supervises the operation. The step forms part of a wider campaign to strip the Strip of military capability.
“The first step toward the demilitarisation of the Strip would be to require Hamas to hand over its weapons for decommissioning under the supervision of an American general,” a senior Israeli official told AFP.
The International Stabilization Force, slated for deployment to Gaza once security conditions permit, is commanded by US Major General Jasper Jeffers. A roadmap Hamas endorsed on July 30 had already envisioned the force supervising weapons decommissioning.
Sequencing Dispute and Two Working Groups
The PM’s office announced that Israel and the Board of Peace would create two task forces: one addressing Hamas disarmament and broader demilitarisation, the other tackling public-health challenges.
The demilitarisation process “should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction,” the PM’s office said.
This sequencing exposes a fundamental rift over the US-backed roadmap. Hamas maintains it has accepted the plan, which encompasses both disarmament and the establishment of a new Palestinian administrative body. Israel, by contrast, insists the group must be fully stripped of arms before Israeli forces pull out. Israeli soldiers presently occupy roughly 60 per cent of the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has called for an end to military operations and a retreat to the so-called “yellow line” before any implementation begins — a boundary that has never been precisely delineated and past which Israeli units have advanced in multiple sectors.
External Pressure and Domestic Political Stakes
During the Cairo session, al-Hayya reportedly reiterated Hamas’s commitment to the roadmap and pressed Washington and other mediators to compel the Israeli leader to embrace it. The group has agreed in principle to transfer its weapons to a Palestinian technocratic committee charged with day-to-day territorial administration, yet has tied the surrender of heavier ordnance to measurable progress toward Palestinian statehood.
The American plan envisions a “credible pathway” toward Palestinian self-determination — a prospect the current Israeli cabinet has rejected. The impasse has frozen several ceasefire elements, including reconstruction work and the deployment of international forces meant to separate Israeli troops from zones administered by the Palestinian committee.
Pressure on Israel to accept the roadmap has intensified across the region. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the ceasefire mediators released a joint statement denouncing Israel’s rejection of the proposal. The signatories declared that Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing peace efforts and urged the United States and the Board of Peace to take “immediate and concrete measures” to stop any party from blocking implementation.
The negotiations unfold against mounting political pressure ahead of Israel’s October 27 election. The prime minister has grown increasingly willing to confront Trump, notwithstanding his earlier emphasis on their personal rapport, and has voiced displeasure at the US decision to suspend the military campaign against Iran and pursue diplomatic channels with Tehran.
