Kushner to visit Israel to bridge gaps on Gaza plan

US President Donald Trump's envoy and son in law Jared Kushner will visit Israel next week in hopes of bridging gaps on a Gaza plan rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said Friday.

Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump's Board of Peace, will also travel to key mediator Egypt.

Why is Jared Kushner visiting Israel next week?

Kushner and Mladenov are travelling to Israel and Egypt to try to bridge gaps on Trump's Gaza plan after Netanyahu publicly rejected a 15 point proposal announced by Mladenov. That plan called for Hamas to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee in Gaza. A Board of Peace official said the pair hoped for "constructive conversations" to advance the overall peace effort.

The visit follows the October 2025 declaration of a ceasefire, which has reduced but not ended Israeli strikes in Gaza. "The United States and Israel agree on the end state, which is a demilitarised Hamas," the official said on condition of anonymity. "We will hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps."

What does the latest Gaza plan propose?

The latest part of the Gaza plan, which Hamas agreed to in late July, would start a phased Israeli withdrawal from much of the Gaza Strip, according to an initial version released by the Board of Peace. Mladenov later backtracked, saying Israel would not need to withdraw troops until Hamas had fully disarmed.

Netanyahu has vowed there will be no pullout and has voiced skepticism that Hamas would disarm. He has said any disarmament must involve Hamas destroying its weapons in a verifiable way. The Board of Peace official said the shared goal between Washington and Israel remains finding ways to accelerate progress toward that outcome.