Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed that an American military general should supervise Hamas handing over its weapons — a proposal that would plant U.S. forces in the middle of Gaza's war zone and inch the country toward another Middle Eastern entanglement nobody voted for.
The agreement came out of an hourslong Monday meeting in Jerusalem between Netanyahu, Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Nickolay Mladenov, Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, according to a senior Israeli official. The White House refused to comment on the details.
NBC News reported that Netanyahu and Kushner agreed demilitarization "should start with a Hamas weapons handover supervised by an American military general." AP News confirmed the meeting and the working groups but did not report the detail about the U.S. general, focusing instead on the diplomatic friction between the parties.
The plan is straightforward on its face and dangerous underneath: U.S. soldiers would be responsible for disarming a terrorist organization in a devastated war zone where Israeli forces currently occupy roughly 60% of the territory. Netanyahu's office made clear the IDF won't be pulling back, saying it would "continue to thwart" threats. So American troops would be sandwiched between Hamas militants and an occupying Israeli military — a peacekeeper mission with no peace to keep.
Both outlets reported that Netanyahu and Kushner agreed no reconstruction of Gaza should begin until Hamas is disarmed. Netanyahu's office confirmed two working groups: one on disarmament, one on sanitation and public health.
The meeting followed Kushner's Sunday sit-down in Cairo with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya — a rare direct engagement. A Hamas official told AP the group demanded Israel halt attacks and withdraw before implementing any deal. Hamas has said it will disarm but previously conditioned laying down heavy weapons on international recognition of a Palestinian state — a nonstarter for Israel's current government.
Netanyahu just days ago rejected Trump's 15-point road map, which requires Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. Now he's embracing the part where American troops do the dangerous work of disarmament while his own forces stay put. Regional powers including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Turkey condemned Israel's rejection of the road map, saying Israel "bears responsibility for obstructing" peace efforts.
Notice the permanent peace-processing class at work: Kushner, Blair, Mladenov — men who move between government roles and private ventures, crafting frameworks that always seem to require American commitment and American dollars. The Tony Blair Institute declined to comment. The Board of Peace declined to comment. The White House referred questions to the Board.
The question nobody in these rooms is answering: What is the U.S. interest in putting American soldiers between Hamas and the IDF, and how do they get out?
