Regarding his discussions with Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza Board of Peace, Kushner said progress on disarmament and the destruction of tunnels in the enclave could be achieved within a month. He also confirmed that significant progress had been made with Netanyahu in talks on disarming Gaza.
Kushner said: “We had a very good meeting today. We were there for nearly four hours with him and his team to review all the various details. I believe they raised some legitimate concerns that we were able to address, and we also managed to clarify some misunderstandings and misinformation that had circulated on the matter.”
He added: “We are deeply committed to the plan to rebuild Gaza, but we will not allow the enclave to be reconstructed before it is disarmed. No one wants to invest more money in a place where this situation has persisted for so long if it will remain under the control of terrorists or be destroyed again.”
He continued: “We will not restrict Israel’s right to defend itself in the event of any imminent threats, so we had to clarify what that means. We could see progress in as little as 30 days, and we hope to see some weapons begin to be surrendered and some tunnels filled in within 60 to 90 days.”
He noted that “progress could be achieved very soon, but we need cooperation from both sides. We hope to move past this stage after making significant progress to reach this point.”
Kushner concluded: “For Israel, we believe this is a win-win situation. If Hamas voluntarily hands over its weapons and tunnels within 60 to 90 days, that would undoubtedly eliminate a major security threat to Israel—an achievement that was previously difficult to imagine. If Hamas fails to honor its commitments, everyone will see that it is not serious about peace. Israel would then receive far greater support from the United States and others to finish the job in the appropriate manner.”