Kushner to visit Israel after Netanyahu rejects Gaza Board of Peace plan

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkDonald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is seen at Board of Peace meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland [AFP]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 14 Aug 202614 Aug 2026United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and aide, Jared Kushner, is set to travel to Israel and Egypt next week to support a US-backed Board of Peace plan for a permanent end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.The visit, which was confirmed to Al Jazeera by a Board of Peace official, comes shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Trump-backed 15-point plan for a lasting peace in the Palestinian enclave.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Gaza holds mass funeral for 112 people killed in Israel’s 2023 Sabra attacklist 2 of 3Israel’s ‘Green Rafah’ plan aims to fragment Gaza, experts saylist 3 of 3What now as Israel rejects Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza?end of listNetanyahu specifically opposed a provision of the plan that would see Hamas gradually disarm, transferring its weapons to a Palestinian third party, with Israel concurrently withdrawing its troops from Gaza. Hamas announced in it had agreed to a preliminary version of the deal and has said that it remains committed following Israel’s rejection.An official with the Board of Peace, which was launched as part of a broader Gaza “ceasefire” agreement reached between Israel and Hamas in late 2025, said Kushner will be accompanied by the board’s director general, former Bulgarian government minister Nickolay Mladenov, and executive committee member, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.The official said the trio will “hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps”.“What is critical is that we both agree on the desired outcome and are finding ways to accelerate progress,” said the official, who maintained that both the Board of Peace and Israel “agree on the end state, which is a demilitarised Hamas”.In Cairo, the official said Kushner, Mladenov, and Blair will meet Egyptian and other mediators, and will seek to solidify a roadmap.Repeated ceasefire violationsHamas’s approval of the preliminary disarmament agreement has been seen as a major breakthrough, even as details of implementation have remained undefined.Under the 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza signed last year, fighting was meant to be halted by both sides to pave the way for Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to decommission their weapons and for Israel to withdraw from Gaza.After that, the agreement calls for Hamas to transfer power to a technocratic Palestinian government, for an International Stabilisation Force to be deployed, and for a major reconstruction effort to begin. However, there have been near-daily Israeli violations, with local authorities reporting that at least 1,260 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect.All told, 73,389 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.Israel, meanwhile, has gradually expanded its area of control in Gaza, accounting for about 70 percent of the enclave.Settler violence surgesKushner’s visit also comes as settler violence, which rights groups have long maintained is enabled by Israel’s military forces, has surged in the occupied West Bank.That has included a settler siege on the village of Qusra in the Nablus government, where residents say they have been cut off from water and electricity as part of an attempted land seizure.The violence has prompted a rare rebuke from US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who pointed to a specific case of settlers targeting the home of a dual US citizen in Qusra.“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee wrote in a post on X. “No excuse for such thuggish behaviour.” He added that the US embassy has been “VERY involved & the [Israeli military] & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this”.Huckabee has remained a staunch supporter of Israel and a vocal supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented 3,033 settler attacks in the West Bank between January 2025 and June 2026, averaging about six a day.Israeli forces and settlers have killed 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, in the occupied territory so far in 2026, according to the UN.