Herzog to Kushner: Any progress in Gaza must ensure Israel's security
President Isaac Herzog met with Jared Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, emphasizing that any steps in Gaza must ensure Israel's security. Simultaneously, discussions continue regarding a framework for the demilitarization of Hamas and the transfer of civil control to a technocratic council.
Jared Kushner, the US Special Envoy, held a meeting to discuss the extensive efforts of the Peace Council.
President of the State Isaac Herzog said during the meeting:
"The next stages in Gaza must ensure the security of the State of Israel and its citizens, and bring stability and a better future for all peoples in the region. I am full of appreciation for US President Donald Trump, US Special Envoy Jared Kushner, and Nickolay Mladenov, CEO of the Peace Council, and their teams who are working for a new future for Israel and the Gaza Strip based on President Trump's 20-point plan. This is a challenging issue. I was impressed that Israel's security interest is an important and central component of the plan, and I insisted on this. I thanked the teams for their work and encouraged them to continue working for a better future for our children."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met earlier today in Jerusalem with US administration advisor Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Peace Council CEO Nickolay Mladenov. The parties discussed the practical framework for regulating control over the Gaza Strip and the demilitarization of Hamas.
The four-way meeting took place in an attempt to present an applicable framework for managing Gaza that would address Israel's security requirements. At the center of the discussion was the 15-point agreement, which the Prime Minister had previously rejected. Now, representatives of the Peace Council and the US administration are trying to reach agreements on the implementation stages on the ground.
The emerging framework proposes transferring civil authorities in the Strip to a technocratic council and preparing infrastructure for the disarmament of Hamas. According to the plan, "pilot zones" free of Hamas will be established in the Rafah area and in the north of the Strip, similar to the model implemented in Lebanon. In these areas, temporary camps will be built for displaced residents, and education, health, and infrastructure services will be provided without the involvement of the terrorist organization.
To maintain order in the pilot zones, it is proposed to deploy an International Security Force (ISF) within weeks. In the first stage, the force will consist of soldiers from Uganda and Kosovo, and later, soldiers from Morocco will also be integrated. Israel has previously expressed principled agreement to the move, but has not yet finalized the operational details and the powers of the force.
Alongside this, the plan includes a renewal of the ceasefire under previous conditions, which allow the IDF to fire at emerging threats and protect the forces located along the "yellow line."
Kushner's arrival in Israel came after a meeting he held in the city of El Alamein in Egypt with a Hamas delegation and representatives from Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt. In these talks, Hamas representatives claimed to Kushner that they are willing to become a political party and accept the roadmap proposed by the Peace Council. Kushner clarified to them in response that the US administration demands the complete demilitarization of the Strip to prevent any future threat to Israel.
