Hamas called on Sunday for the Peace Board to force Israel to accept the ceasefire plan for Gaza, according to a statement from the Islamist movement. The request came following a meeting in Egypt with US envoy Jared Kushner, confirmed by a regional official and a Hamas representative who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the European Union, the United States and other countries, called on the Peace Board and mediating countries to compel Israel to approve the roadmap for the second phase of the Washington-backed plan. The group stated it is committed to the plan and hopes mediators will begin a 14-day negotiation period to establish an implementation timeline.
Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, held a meeting lasting more than two hours with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, together with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. Kushner will meet on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected the 15-point roadmap the previous week in an unusual display of public defiance against the Trump administration.
Several regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, issued a statement condemning Israel's rejection of the roadmap. Foreign ministers said Israel is responsible for obstructing peace efforts and urged the Peace Board and the United States to take immediate action to prevent any party from sabotaging implementation of the plan.
Negotiators are seeking to salvage a plan that would allow Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory, at a time when nearly two million people depend on the enclave's reconstruction. Talks have stalled over the question of Hamas disarmament, which has made the handover of its heaviest weapons conditional on the creation of a Palestinian state, something the Israeli government rejects.