Israeli PM Netanyahu, Trump envoy agree on US general's supervision on Hamas disarmament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Monday with US envoy Jared Kushner that a US general should supervise Hamas's disarmament, a day after Donald Trump's son-in-law met the Palestinian militant group’s representative.There was no immediate US confirmation of any agreement. (AFP File)According to an official quoted in an AFP report, Netanyahu told Kushner that Israel would not pull troops from Gaza until then till the disarmament is complete.The two sides "agreed that the first step toward the demilitarisation of the Strip would be to require Hamas to hand over its weapons for decommissioning under the supervision of an American general," the Israeli official quoted in the report said.There was no immediate US confirmation of any agreement.Trump said in late July that a deal was reached for the complete disarmament ‌of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. But Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking to get re-elected as Israeli PM in an election due in October, has publicly rejected Trump's plan.Jared Kushner meets Hamas officialsJared Kushner held a rare meeting with Hamas officials in Cairo on Sunday, in a bid to push forward the US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan.A diplomatic source quoted by Reuters said Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya was present at some of the meetings that mediators held with Kushner and Trump's Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, in Cairo.It marks Kushner’s second known meeting with representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist movement by the United States.Kushner previously met Hamas officials alongside US special envoy Steve Witkoff in October 2025, helping clinch a deal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.Trump had said the deal reached in late July would be carried ​out in phases, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza as disarmament ​proceeded and an International Stabilisation Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.Hamas has said it agreed to the plan, but the deal's implementation would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal and halting attacks.