Hamas says it is committed to Gaza deal after Kushner's Israel visit

Hamas said on Tuesday it remained committed to the US-backed Gaza peace deal after White House envoy Jared Kushner spoke to Israel about steps toward the group's disarmament.

"Hamas is committed to this agreed-upon process," spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP, adding that Israel had not yet given mediators clear approval of the roadmap.

Has Hamas accepted the Gaza agreement?

Hamas says it has accepted the roadmap and remains committed to the process, but Qassem said implementation is on hold because Israel has not yet given mediators clear approval. He said timelines and procedural steps still need to be worked out, but Israeli approval must come first.

Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, held a rare meeting with Hamas on Sunday in Egypt before meeting the following day in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has publicly rejected the latest phase of the deal. In a Fox News interview after the talks, Kushner said Hamas's disarmament could begin in about 30 days, and that Gaza's reconstruction would not begin until that happens.

What has Kushner said about Israel's role in Gaza?

Kushner said the United States is "not going to restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats" in Gaza. Netanyahu has demanded that Hamas fully disarm, and the two sides agreed in their talks that a US general would oversee the surrender of weapons, according to an Israeli official.

Trump's "Board of Peace," which is implementing the deal, has also told Netanyahu that Israel does not need to begin withdrawing from Gaza until full disarmament takes place. This walks back an earlier call for Israel to start a phased pullout.

Has Israel continued strikes in Gaza during the peace push?

Israel has kept up airstrikes in Gaza despite the peace push. The Israeli military said Tuesday that a strike two days earlier had killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad group who was responsible for abducting an Israeli during the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Israeli operations have killed at least 1,265 Palestinians since a ceasefire took effect on October 10, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks from Gaza operations over the same period.