Kushner meets Hamas chief, to push Gaza road map with Netanyahu

US negotiator Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Sunday as part of a fresh push to advance the stalled Gaza ceasefire, Greater Kashmir reports. The roughly two-hour meeting, also attended by envoy Steve Witkoff and officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, was confirmed by a regional official and a Hamas official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kushner is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday along with former British PM Tony Blair and Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov. Netanyahu last week rejected the US-backed 15-point road map, which calls for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory. Regional powers including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey issued a statement condemning Israel's rejection, saying it now bears responsibility for obstructing peace efforts.

Hamas said it is committed to the plan and called on mediators to compel Israel to approve the road map. The group has linked handing over its heaviest weapons to the creation of a Palestinian state, which Israel's government rejects. Netanyahu faces a challenging election on October 27, and his Likud party accused Arab states of trying to topple him.