Donald Trump’s son-in-law met Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the second phase of the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
Jared Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, met the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss the progress and future of the ceasefire, according to an Israeli government official.
During the last ceasefire agreement in January, International mediators were unable to bring the two parties back to the negotiating table to discuss the withdrawal of troops and the future governance of Gaza at the time.
Mr Kushner, who was key in developing the White House plan to wind down the fighting in Gaza, is facing a similar challenge now, as it is unclear where Hamas and Israel stand on these key issues.
“Details are continuously being worked out about phase two, as we are still in phase one,” the spokesperson for the Israeli government said after Mr Kushner met with Mr Netanyahu.
The first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on 10 October, has focused on stopping the fighting, releasing all hostages, and boosting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Details of the second phase, which includes deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and governing postwar Gaza, haven’t been agreed upon yet.
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But the first phase of the plan is nearing its end after Hamas returned all 20 living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israel.
The militant group also returned the remains of 24 hostages, with four bodies left to return under the terms of the ceasefire.
The latest remains were released by Hamas on Sunday and have been identified as Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
He died two hours after a ceasefire took effect in that year’s war between Israel and Hamas, and his family has campaigned to bring his body home for 11 years. His remains had been the only ones left in Gaza predating the current war between Israel and Hamas.
For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has released the remains of 15 Palestinians, handing over 315 bodies so far.
Only 91 have been identified so far, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which says a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza is complicating forensic work.
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The latest conflict began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in their cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip killed over 69,000 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave said on Saturday. The figure does not differentiate between the number of civilians and fighters killed.
