August 18, 2026
Jared Kushner delivers a statement to the media alongside U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, near Kiryat Gat, on October 21, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Jared Kushner says progress in Gaza disarmament could start in as little as one to three months.
By World Israel News Staff
US envoy Jared Kushner issued a blunt warning to Hamas on Monday, saying the group has a limited opportunity to prove it is serious about surrendering its weapons before Washington gives Israel broader backing to resume military operations and “finish the job” in Gaza.
Kushner delivered the warning after an intensive two-day diplomatic push that included a rare face-to-face meeting with Hamas leaders in Cairo followed by nearly four hours of talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.
“If they don’t follow through now on their commitment,” Kushner told Fox News, Hamas would demonstrate that it was not serious about peace, clearing the way for Israel to “finish the job in the appropriate way.”
The ultimatum underscored the Trump administration’s effort to put Hamas’s willingness to disarm to a concrete test while simultaneously pressing Israel to give the diplomatic process an opportunity to work.
Kushner met Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo on Sunday alongside officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
It was only Kushner’s second known meeting with Hamas representatives, following talks last year that helped produce the October 2025 ceasefire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
According to Kushner, Hamas again committed itself during the meeting to President Donald Trump’s broader peace framework and a 15-point implementation roadmap developed over the past several months that calls for the group to surrender its weapons.
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Kushner acknowledged profound doubts over whether Hamas would actually carry out those promises, saying its representatives had said “all the right things” but now needed to demonstrate their intentions through action.
The US envoy said measurable progress could come relatively quickly if Hamas complies.
“We could be seeing progress” in as little as 30 days on beginning to remove weapons, Kushner said, while work to fill or eliminate Hamas’s tunnel network could begin over the following 60 to 90 days.
The roadmap calls for Hamas to transfer its weapons to the new Palestinian technocratic administration designated to govern Gaza, with the weapons ultimately removed from circulation under an internationally supervised process. Hamas would also relinquish its governing role in the Strip.
But the process remains stalled by a fundamental dispute over sequencing.
Israel insists Hamas must completely disarm before the IDF carries out additional withdrawals or reconstruction of Gaza begins.
Hamas says it has accepted the roadmap but argues that Israel must first stop its attacks and begin withdrawing its forces, with disarmament and Israeli withdrawal proceeding in parallel.
Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s position during his meeting with Kushner on Monday, making clear that Israeli troops would remain in Gaza until Hamas was fully disarmed.
An Israeli official also said the IDF would continue operating against threats and against Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
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The talks nevertheless produced agreement on several points.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel and Trump’s Board of Peace agreed to establish two working groups, one dealing with Hamas’s disarmament and Gaza’s demilitarization and another focusing on sanitation, clean water and other public health needs.
Both sides agreed that demilitarization must be completed before reconstruction begins.
A Board of Peace official said demilitarization would have to encompass “every weapon, light and heavy, and every tunnel.”
Kushner also made clear that the United States would not finance or support rebuilding Gaza while Hamas remained armed.
“We will not allow Gaza to be rebuilt until the demilitarization occurs,” he said, arguing that international donors would not invest billions of dollars in reconstruction if Hamas could regain control or renewed fighting could destroy what was rebuilt.
At the same time, Kushner said Washington would not prevent Israel from responding to immediate security threats.
“We’re also not going to restrict Israel’s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats,” he said, while acknowledging that the parties still need to clarify precisely what constitutes such a threat.
That assurance came on the same day Trump publicly told Israel that it “should not be striking in Gaza,” saying Hamas had agreed to surrender its weapons and that Washington maintains its own channel of communication with the group.
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“We have a different channel with Hamas, and ultimately they are giving up their guns,” Trump said.
Taken together, the comments suggest the administration is pursuing a two-sided pressure strategy: asking Israel to restrain military operations long enough to test Hamas’s commitments while warning Hamas that failure to act could leave it facing renewed Israeli military action with stronger American support.
The approach could also help address Israeli skepticism toward the US roadmap.
Netanyahu rejected the latest version of the plan earlier this month, arguing that Israel could not withdraw from territory before Hamas’s military infrastructure had actually been dismantled. He reiterated Monday that the IDF would not leave until disarmament was completed.
Hamas, meanwhile, has demanded that Israel halt attacks and return its forces to the original Yellow Line before implementation begins.
Israeli troops have moved beyond that line in several areas and had expanded their control to roughly 60% of Gaza, according to recent reporting.
Despite the remaining differences, US officials characterized Monday’s talks as productive.
Netanyahu’s office called the discussions “deep and constructive,” while a Board of Peace official said the sides had agreed on “a path forward.”
“The Israelis are going to give this a chance,” the official said. “Now it’s up to Hamas to show if it truly intends to comply.”
