Occupied West Bank (QNN) - US President Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner has swung firmly behind Israel's position on Gaza after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that the United States will not allow the devastated enclave to be rebuilt until Hamas gives up its weapons, and signaling that Washington would support an Israeli military assault to, in his words, finish the job if Hamas does not comply.
The shift came just two days after Kushner met the Hamas leadership in Cairo, where the movement reaffirmed its acceptance of the roadmap for the second phase of Trump's plan in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Following his subsequent meeting with Netanyahu, Kushner abandoned that framework and adopted Israel's demands wholesale.
"We have a plan to rebuild Gaza, but we will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until the demilitarization occurs," Kushner told Fox News, tying the reconstruction of an enclave Israel has reduced to rubble to a condition Israel itself set. He went further, warning that if Hamas did not hand over its weapons within 60 to 90 days, Israel would have the backing to act. If the group does not follow through, he said, everyone will see it is not genuine about peace, and Israel will have a lot more support from the United States and others to go and finish the job in what he called the appropriate way.
Kushner also made clear that Washington would not constrain Israel's continued attacks, saying the United States would not restrict Israel's 'right to defend itself' against what it deems imminent threats. The statement effectively endorses the near-daily Israeli strikes that have never stopped, attacks that have killed more than 1,265 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, part of a genocidal assault that has killed over 73,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
The reversal is striking on two fronts. Only weeks ago, Kushner was among the US officials who privately concluded that Netanyahu was sabotaging the deal through Israel's relentless killings and assassinations in Gaza. Now, after meeting the Israeli war criminal, he no longer blames Netanyahu or Israel for the deadlock, instead placing the entire burden on Hamas and threatening it with an Israeli invasion. The envoy who days earlier told Hamas the plan meant a ceasefire and withdrawal now publicly adopted Israel's terms: no withdrawal, no reconstruction, and continued Israeli military freedom in Gaza.
The contradiction was underscored by Trump himself. Earlier the same day, the US president said Israel should not be striking in Gaza, noting that Hamas had agreed to lay down its weapons, a call his own envoy's remarks directly undercut. The mixed messaging left the Palestinian side facing a US position that shifts depending on which party its envoys are addressing, while the killing on the ground continues.
For Palestinians, Kushner's alignment with Israel exposes the process for what it is. Hamas accepted the framework and pressed for it to be implemented, while Israel rejected it and vowed to keep its forces in Gaza. Rather than pressing its ally to comply, Washington has adopted Israel's conditions and turned its threats toward the Palestinian side, warning of a renewed assault on a population already enduring the worst conditions of an ongoing genocide.
The understandings reached at the Netanyahu meeting spelled out how far Israel's position has been accommodated. Israel made clear that reconstruction will not begin until Hamas is fully disarmed across Gaza, that its targeted killings will continue, that it will not withdraw from the Yellow Line, and that there will be no reduction in its troop levels in the Strip. According to the Jerusalem Post, the sides agreed that in the initial stage of the process, weapons handed over by Hamas would be transferred to the Palestinian technocratic committee meant to govern Gaza and to the international stabilization force, with the transfer overseen by US Major General Jasper Jeffers, who heads that force. Israel also insisted that Hamas must begin handing over weapons immediately to prove the process is viable, even as Israel committed to none of the withdrawal or halt to attacks that the Palestinians were promised.
