Kushner Meets Egypts President El-Sisi as US Pushes to Advance Gaza Peace Plan

Palestinians walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, at Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on Aug. 5, 2026. Mahmoud Issa/ReutersEgyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Jared Kushner on Sunday as diplomatic efforts continue to advance President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.While the diplomatic talks were ongoing, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday on X that it carried out two airstrikes in Gaza, targeting a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in the Khan Younis area and a member of the Hamas terrorist group in the Nuseirat area.Kushner was joined on Sunday by Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, for meetings in Cairo with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators.Kushner and Mladenov are scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as they seek a path forward for implementing Trump’s Gaza peace plan.The IDF said the two were involved in planning attacks and were struck in what it described as precision aerial strikes intended to eliminate the threat.Hamas has said implementation of the agreement also depends on Israel fulfilling its commitments, including withdrawing its forces from Gaza and halting attacks.The Aug. 16 meeting in El Alamein included Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Atty and Hassan Rashad, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.Kushner conveyed greetings from Trump to El-Sisi, while the Egyptian president emphasized the strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States and the two countries’ cooperation on regional security.The talks included developments in the Middle East and efforts to resolve ongoing regional conflicts.El-Sisi and Kushner also discussed Palestinian issues and the agreement reached at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October 2025 to end the war in the Gaza Strip.The two sides emphasized “the need for all parties to fulfill their obligations under the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip,” according to the Egyptian presidency.Kushner praised Egypt’s role in efforts to promote peace and stability in the region and described the country as a key U.S. partner in the Middle East.Netanyahu restated on Aug. 9 that Israel had rejected the Board of Peace’s latest plan for Gaza, saying Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.Trump said in July that an agreement had been reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Under the plan, disarmament and the Israeli withdrawal would take place in phases, with an international stabilization force and a new Palestinian police force assuming responsibility for security.Gaza would ultimately be governed by a new Palestinian government working with the Board of Peace.Netanyahu, however, said Hamas must surrender all of its weapons before Israel withdraws. He said the disarmament must be genuine rather than “fictitious” and that Israel was continuing discussions with the United States over the proposal.Netanyahu said some U.S. proposals were acceptable to Israel while others were not. He also said Israeli forces would continue to act against threats to Israeli troops and civilians.The disagreement has left the timing of Hamas’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces as a key obstacle to implementing the peace plan.Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.