Senior Palestinian figure says Kushner assured him Israel will stop striking Gaza on Sunday

Israel has agreed to halt strikes in Gaza starting on Sunday, senior Palestinian figure Mohammad Dahlan announces, revealing that he received assurances to that effect from US President Donald Trump’s top aide Jared Kushner.

“After Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed on the 15-point [disarmament] document, Mr. Jared Kushner confirmed to us that he agreed with the Israeli side that it will stop the attacks on Gaza starting tomorrow morning,” Dahlan writes in a Facebook post.

The post represents a highly rare public weigh-in by Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief for the Palestinian Authority, who is living in exile in the United Arab Emirates.

Dahlan has become a close adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, and Kushner has also closely consulted with him while advancing his plan for the postwar management of Gaza.

Dahlan has preferred to largely remain behind the scenes, but one of his aides confirmed his involvement in the Hamas disarmament talks for the first time earlier this week.

Hamas accepted the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan on Thursday, in a major breakthrough for the US-led body overseeing the postwar management of Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment publicly on the plan, but a pair of statements attributed to a “senior Israeli official” have indicated that Jerusalem does not deem the proposal sufficient and accordingly will not carry out any withdrawals from Gaza as the plan requires. Meanwhile, Israel conducted a wave of bombings in Gaza on Saturday.