Hamas urges pressure on Israel

CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday urged mediators and guarantors to press Israel to approve the road map for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The call was made in a statement issued following a meeting in Cairo between a Hamas delegation — led by Khalil al-Hayya, head of the group's political bureau — and representatives of the mediators and guarantors of the ceasefire agreement.

The delegation urged the mediators and the United States-led "Board of Peace" to push Israel to implement all its commitments under the first phase of the agreement, halt killings and ground incursions, and approve the road map for the second phase of the agreement, the statement said.

Hamas also said it had accepted the road map, citing its aim to secure a permanent ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, sustained humanitarian aid, and the start of work by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, according to the statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel rejected the US-backed road map and would not withdraw its forces from Gaza until Hamas was fully disarmed.

The "Board of Peace" published a 15-point road map on July 31 for implementing the next phase of the Gaza agreement.

It includes an end to military operations, the transfer of civilian governance to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and the decommissioning of heavy weapons, weapons stockpiles, military production facilities and tunnels, alongside arrangements for an Israeli withdrawal.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner met Netanyahu on Monday after holding talks with Hamas leaders.

A diplomatic official confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the meeting had begun late on Monday morning.

Kushner — Trump's son-in-law — met al-Hayya in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein on Sunday, sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP.

Kushner demanded that Hamas verify it is giving up its weapons, a key sticking point for Netanyahu, and that the group renounce any future role in governing the Palestinian territory, the sources said.

Netanyahu is expected to meet behind closed doors with Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on the "Board of Peace".

Awaiting response

A Hamas official said the group told Kushner it was committed to the Gaza plan and wanted pressure on Netanyahu.

"Hamas is awaiting the US administration's response regarding Israel's position on the agreement," the official told AFP.

Netanyahu, who is facing elections in October that polls show will be tight, has increasingly been willing to defy Trump, whose support he once highlighted in his campaign.

After initially voicing muted criticism of the Gaza plan, Netanyahu last week told his cabinet that he rejected it and vowed not to pull troops from the Palestinian territory.

In an interview, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's cabinet, called for mass killings in Gaza.

"I think targeted eliminations should be carried out in Gaza every night. Take out 30 or 40," Ben-Gvir said in comments that surfaced on Sunday on a podcast with a former Gaza hostage.

Until recently, Israel was striking Gaza nearly every day, attacks that have killed more than 1,250 people since an October truce deal came into effect, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

On Sunday, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries condemned Israel's declared rejection of the road map.

"Such rejection confirms that Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza," the foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement.

XINHUA-AGENCIES