US envoy Jared Kushner is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after holding talks with Hamas leaders in Egypt aimed at reviving a US-backed Gaza peace plan that Israel has so far rejected.
The meeting comes two weeks after Hamas endorsed the latest stage of Trump’s Gaza plan, which Netanyahu has refused to support, insisting any settlement must ensure the group is “genuinely disarmed”.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met Hamas’s new leader Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El-Alamein on Sunday, sources with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
Kushner pushed for Hamas to take “concrete, verifiable steps” and relayed a message that “Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel”, one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
Hamas again voiced its commitment to the plan, another source said.
Israeli lawmaker advocates killings
An extremist Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition publicly advocated for killing “30 to 40 people” in Gaza each night, comments that surfaced Sunday and were quickly shared by Palestinian media.
Hormuz shipping slows
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while US-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.
Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, according to shiptracking data from Kpler, compared with 31 in the prior weekend.
US military commander praises USS Lincoln
The top US military commander in the Middle East praised the leadership of the long-deployed USS Lincoln after visiting sailors on the vessel during a regional tour that ended on Saturday, the US Central Command said.
