US says Jared Kushner may go to Israel for talks on Gaza plan

WASHINGTON - The United States is considering sending presidential envoy Jared Kushner to Israel as President Donald Trump pushes a peace plan for Gaza, an official said on Aug 13.

The news outlet Axios reported earlier that Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and go-to mediator for the Middle East and Russia, will head to Israel and Egypt next week for talks on the situation in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced over the weekend he opposes Trump’s latest plan for ending the Gaza war.

“Such a trip is being discussed. The United States and Israel agree on the desired outcome in Gaza,” the official said on condition of not being named, responding to an AFP query on the Axios report on Kushner.

“We share many other areas of agreement and mutual concerns that we will work through together.”

After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism, Netanyahu explicitly stated on Aug 9 that he opposed the Gaza plan, which called for Israel to begin pulling back forces in tandem with disarmament by Hamas.

The premier vowed no Israeli pullout, even after Trump’s Board of Peace reassured him that Israel would not have to withdraw until Hamas disarmed completely.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is running even or trailing in some polls ahead of Oct 27 elections, the country’s first since the devastating 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

The Gaza plan was the latest stage in a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October that has reduced, but not ended, Israeli operations there. AFP