GAZA: Hamas said on Tuesday it remained committed to the US-backed Gaza peace deal after White House envoy Jared Kushner spoke to Israel about steps towards the group's disarmament. "Hamas is committed to this agreed-upon process. It is clear that, so far, the Israeli side has not given the mediators clear approval of the road map," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. "There are timelines and procedural steps that need to be worked out in detail, but there must first be Israeli approval of the road map," he said.
Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, held a rare meeting with Hamas in Egypt before meeting the following day in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has publicly rejected the latest phase of the deal. Kushner said that Hamas's disarmament could begin in about 30 days and that reconstruction of Gaza would not begin until that happens.
Trump's "Board of Peace" implementing the deal has told Netanyahu that Israel does not need to start withdrawing from Gaza until full disarmament, walking back an earlier call for Israel to start a phased pullout. — AFP
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