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Ulviyya Poladova

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US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan remains the subject of high-level diplomatic negotiations, as efforts intensify to overcome disagreements over its implementation. Against this backdrop, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Jared Kushner, travelled to Egypt last week before heading to Israel in an effort to revive the stalled process.

The latest phase of negotiations has increasingly centred on two contentious issues: Hamas’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected any Israeli withdrawal until Hamas is "truly" disarmed, making the issue one of the principal obstacles to the plan’s implementation. Against this backdrop, Kushner’s diplomatic efforts appear aimed at preserving the existing framework while preventing the ceasefire agreement from coming under further strain.

In Cairo, Kushner first met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who stressed the need for all parties to comply fully with the provisions of the agreement signed in Sharm el-Sheikh in October 2025. The emphasis on compliance reflects the growing importance of implementing existing commitments as negotiations move towards the agreement’s next stage. Kushner then held talks with Egyptian, Turkish and Qatari mediators involved in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, as well as Nikolay Mladenov, a senior representative of the Board of Peace for Gaza.

Kushner also met directly with a Hamas delegation led by the movement’s new leader, Khalil al-Hayya. The meeting marked his first high-level contact with al-Hayya since the ceasefire agreement was reached last year and brought the US envoy into direct engagement with Hamas at a particularly sensitive stage of the peace process.

The timing mattered. Kushner arrived amid visible friction between the Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the future of Gaza. Netanyahu's position has been blunt: Israel will not withdraw its forces until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed. It should be noted that Israel’s next parliamentary elections will be held on October 23. The upcoming vote could be one of the reasons why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Trump’s Gaza plan. For the first time in 38 years, elections to the Knesset will take place exactly on the date originally stipulated by law, without being brought forward.

The basic outline of the current U.S.-backed plan is known. It envisions a phased end to the war in Gaza, the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops, the transfer of governance to a new Palestinian civilian or technocratic administration, and a process leading to the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups. On paper, this formula gives each side something it can present as essential. In practice, however, the plan is stuck on the exact issue that was always going to be the hardest: who disarms Hamas or what will happen to the Palestinians?

The stakes are high, with the future of nearly two million people in Gaza and the reconstruction of the densely populated enclave hanging in the balance. A meeting between Kushner, fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff and Hamas leaders in Egypt last year helped pave the way for the ceasefire. However, implementation has remained stalled, largely because of disagreements.

Reconstruction is often spoken about as if it were the natural sequel to ceasefire diplomacy, but in Gaza it is inseparable from security and governance. The cost of rebuilding has been estimated at more than $70 billion. That scale of spending cannot happen in a stable, sustained way unless donors believe the postwar order will hold. No serious international reconstruction effort will move at full speed if there is a high probability that renewed fighting will destroy the same infrastructure again.

Trump’s plan calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the subsequent reconstruction of the territory under a new civilian Palestinian administration. Last month, the Board of Peace established by Trump announced that an agreement had been reached on the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

In July, Hamas announced the dissolution of its government in Gaza and said it was preparing to transfer authority to a technocratic committee backed by the United Nations. According to the Associated Press, the move was part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas with US mediation.

On October 9, 2025, Israel and Hamas, with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Türkiye, agreed to implement the first phase of a broader peace plan. A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza the following day. Under the agreement, Israeli forces withdrew to designated "yellow lines" but continued to control more than half of the Gaza Strip. The unresolved question of Hamas’s disarmament remains one of the main obstacles to the next stage of the agreement and to the broader reconstruction and political transition envisioned by Trump’s plan.

In an interview with Fox News, Jared Kushner said that significant progress could be made on Hamas’ disarmament within the next month. According to Kushner, the process of handing over weapons could begin soon, potentially alongside the destruction of some of Hamas’ underground tunnels.

Kushner added that Hamas militants would either begin voluntarily disarming "within the next 60 to 90 days," or Israel would receive "much greater support from the United States and other countries to finish the job properly."

Meanwhile, the United States and the Board of Peace are expected to begin forming the Multinational Stabilization Force (MSF) for Gaza in the coming weeks. The initial contingent is expected to include troops from Uganda and Kosovo, with Moroccan forces joining the mission at a later stage.

The most likely scenario is a temporary international security presence followed by the transfer of authority to a Palestinian technocratic administration. Gaza’s long-term political status, however, remains unresolved. The next phase will determine whether Trump’s plan can become a genuine framework for a post-war settlement or remain another fragile ceasefire agreement vulnerable to collapse.

And while the United States is preoccupied with the war with Iran, the future of Gaza remains uncertain.

Image: Egyptian Presidency/Anadolu/Getty Images