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US Special Envoy Jared Kushner said Washington made significant progress during a nearly four-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with discussions focusing on Gaza reconstruction, demilitarisation and Israel's security concerns.
In an interview with Fox News, Kushner said several concerns raised by Netanyahu during the meeting were addressed, while misunderstandings and misinformation surrounding the proposed plan were also clarified. "Today we had a very good meeting. We were there for almost four hours with him and his team going through all the different details," Kushner said. "I think there were some valid concerns that they raised that we were able to address, and we were able to go through some of the misunderstandings and misinformation that's been out about it as well," he added. Kushner said the US remains committed to rebuilding Gaza but would not allow reconstruction to begin until demilitarisation takes place. "We're very committed to the fact that we have a plan to rebuild Gaza, but we will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until the demilitarisation occurs," he said. "Nobody wants to put more money into a place that's gone on for so long, until if it's just going to be taken over by terrorists or blown up again," Kushner added. The US envoy also said the plan would not restrict Israel's right to defend itself against any imminent threats. "We're also not going to restrict Israel's right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats, and so we had to clarify what that means," Kushner said. He said progress could begin within 30 days, including efforts to remove weapons, while work to address tunnel networks could take place over the following 60 to 90 days. "We could be seeing progress, you know, as much as--in as little as 30 days, hopefully, starting to take some of the weapons out, and hopefully filling in some of the tunnels as well in the next 60 to 90 days as well," he said. Kushner stressed that cooperation from both sides would be necessary to advance the plan. "So, progress could come quite soon, but we do need cooperation from both sides, and we're going to hopefully get through it. But we've made a lot of progress to get here," he said. He described the proposal as a potential "win-win situation" for Israel, arguing that Hamas handing over weapons and tunnels voluntarily would eliminate a major security threat to the country. "For Israel, we think this is a win-win situation because if Hamas actually gives over the weapons and the tunnels willingly over the next 60 to 90 days, that obviously would be the elimination of a huge security threat for Israel--almost an unthinkable achievement," Kushner said. He added that if Hamas failed to honour its commitments, it would demonstrate that the group was not genuine about peace and could lead to greater US and international support for Israel. "And if they don't follow through on their commitment, everyone will see that they're not genuine about peace, and then Israel will have a lot more support from the US and others to go and finish the job in the appropriate way," Kushner said. Earlier, US Special Envoy Jared Kushner pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance the Trump-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal and "not create obstacles" to the stalled peace plan, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source familiar with the discussions. According to CNN, Netanyahu, however, maintained his stance that Israel would not withdraw its forces from Gaza until Hamas was completely disarmed. The meeting came after Netanyahu rejected the Trump administration's 15-point Gaza ceasefire plan announced earlier this month. Kushner also met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in El Alamein, Egypt, on Sunday (local time), CNN reported. (ANI)
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