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Tony Blair and Jared Kushner Meet with Hamas Leader

Tony Blair and Jared Kushner met Hamas leaders in Cairo to advance Trump's stalled Gaza peace plan, with Hamas pledging disarmament amid renewed Israeli airstrikes.

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe Staff Writer

AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 5:21 PM

The high-level discussions brought together Sir Tony Blair, Kushner, and Nickolay Mladenov, Board of Peace high representative, with Khalil al-Hayya, a key Hamas figure. The meeting focused on advancing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace framework, which has stalled in recent weeks.

Israeli forces have resumed airstrikes in Gaza after a brief reduction in military operations earlier this month, raising concerns about the viability of the October ceasefire agreement designed to end hostilities and facilitate reconstruction of the war-torn territory.

Hamas Pledges Disarmament Commitment

During the two-hour session, Hamas officials reiterated their willingness to disarm and transfer control of Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic government, in accordance with the second phase of Trump’s peace plan.

A source familiar with the talks revealed that Kushner made clear American expectations remain demanding. The bar is high because the Israeli side doesn’t trust them to actually disarm, Kushner reportedly told Hamas leaders, emphasizing that disarmament terms are non-negotiable but that Washington would pressure Israel to reciprocate if Hamas demonstrates genuine progress.

Dispute Over Terminology

Hamas has resisted the term “disarmament” itself, instead characterizing the arrangement as transferring weapons to storage under a US-backed Palestinian technocratic administration. This semantic dispute reflects deeper tensions over implementation of the peace framework.

Kushner also held separate discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as part of the diplomatic initiative, with Cairo serving as a neutral venue for the sensitive negotiations.

The involvement of Blair, a veteran Middle East peace negotiator, alongside Kushner signals the high-stakes nature of salvaging the Trump plan amid renewed violence and mutual distrust between Israeli and Palestinian factions.

With information from GB News

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe

She was born in 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Crete who settled in the Greek community of Johannesburg (one of the largest in Africa). She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and a master’s degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She began her career at English-language media outlets in Johannesburg, covering politics and economics, with a focus on issues related to migration and the diaspora. She moved to Athens in 2015 to “return to her roots,” initially to pursue graduate studies, and has remained there permanently. She is married to an Afrikaner; they have two children and live in the southern suburbs of Athens.