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Thursday, August 13, 2026
Kushner slated to visit Israel, lean on PM to let Hamas disarmament deal advance — source
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner is slated to travel to Israel next week to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aiming to lean on him to allow the advancement of the Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Hamas in Gaza, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
Kushner will be joined by Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nikolay Mladenov, the source says, adding that the exact date of the visit has not yet been finalized.
A Board of Peace spokesperson does not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trip, which was first reported by the Axios news site.
Hamas accepted the US-backed Board of Peace’s disarmament plan two weeks ago, but its advancement has been clouded after Netanyahu came out against it. In his statement rejecting the plan, the premier said, “The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say Hamas must be disarmed, I mean the heavy weapons, the less-heavy weapons, all weapons.”
Despite the rhetorical opposition to the proposal, though, Israel quietly held off on carrying out strikes in Gaza for over a week. That halt ended earlier this week, and Israel killed a Hamas military commander and, reportedly, a police chief on Thursday.
Kushner and Mladenov are planning to lean on Israel to restore its halt on Gaza strikes in addition to adhering to a series of humanitarian-related commitments that it made as part of its October 2025 ceasefire deal with Hamas, the source says.
Once those commitments are upheld, the Board of Peace believes that it will be able to approach Hamas and ask the terror group to begin handing over its weapons, the source says.
However, an Arab diplomat speculates that such progress won’t be possible until Netanyahu publicly walks back his opposition to the agreement — something that is unlikely to occur as Israel’s October 27 election approaches.
Both Kushner and Mladenov are frustrated with Netanyahu’s public posturing against the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan, the diplomat says.
Kushner hasn’t visited Israel since last year, when he brokered the October ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Times of Israel Community.