President Donald Trump’s advisor Jared Kushner held direct talks with senior Hamas officials in Egypt on Sunday, pushing the terrorist group to begin taking concrete and verifiable steps toward disarmament and surrendering its control over the Gaza Strip, according to Axios, which cited two people familiar with the discussions.

The talks marked Kushner’s first meeting with Hamas officials since the agreement ending the Gaza war was signed last October. The meeting came as the White House and Trump’s Board of Peace work to move both Israel and Hamas into the next phase of the administration’s 20-point peace framework.

Following the talks in Egypt, Kushner is scheduled to travel to Israel on Monday for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One source told Axios that those discussions are expected to center on “corresponding steps” that Israel would be expected to take as the process moves forward.

Kushner was accompanied at the meeting by Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who also serves as a member of the board.

Representing Hamas at the talks was the terrorist organization’s political leader Khalil al-Hayya. Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official also took part in the meeting.

According to a source briefed on the discussions, a central objective of the meeting was to translate Hamas’ broader commitments to the demilitarization of Gaza into tangible actions that could be monitored and verified.

Among the measures discussed was the transfer of governing control in Gaza to the Palestinian technocratic government. The plan would also require Hamas to have no role in governing the territory going forward.

The Board of Peace is additionally pressing for Hamas’ weapons and military infrastructure to be decommissioned, while an International Stabilization Force would be deployed in Gaza. The framework also calls for reconstruction and recovery efforts to proceed without Hamas stealing resources or intimidating Palestinians participating in the rebuilding process.

The report said the board is simultaneously seeking Israeli withdrawals from additional areas of Gaza as Hamas begins implementing disarmament, along with an accelerated flow of humanitarian assistance into the territory.

“There can be no ambiguity: Hamas must relinquish governing authority and all weapons and military infrastructure. And Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel,” a source told Axios.

{Matzav.com}