According to CNN, an Israeli senior official said that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, told Jared Kushner, the U.S. envoy, that Israel will not withdraw any of its forces from Gaza and will not allow the start of reconstruction until Hamas is completely disarmed.

According to the official, Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed that an American general would oversee the process of removing Hamas weapons from the operational cycle; an action that would be the first step in the de-militarization of the devastated area.

According to the report, Hamas has refused to disarm unless the disarmament action is carried out concurrently with the end of Israel’s almost daily attacks on Gaza and the beginning of the withdrawal of Israeli forces, which are currently occupying more than half of the strip.

Nikolay Mladenov, head of the “Peace Mission,” and Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, also attended the meeting. According to the official report from Netanyahu’s office of this meeting, the participants agreed to form working groups on disarmament as well as matters related to hygiene, safe water, and public health.