Barak Ravid, Axios

A U.S. official said that Jared Kushner, an adviser to President Trump, on Monday told Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, that the United States wants Israel to take “small steps” in Gaza to see whether Hamas’s commitment to begin the disarmament process is genuine or not.

Why it matters: The four-hour meeting took place at a time when Netanyahu is deeply skeptical of the U.S. plan for Gaza and, ahead of the October election, because of the political sensitivity of the matter, has little inclination to offer significant concessions.

The meeting helped clarify some misunderstandings, address part of Netanyahu’s concerns, and reach a shared understanding about the way forward, but it also made the remaining disagreements more apparent and showed how difficult making progress in the short term will be.

Main story: Kushner, after Sunday meetings in Egypt with Hamas leaders as well as Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators, entered Israel.

Kushner brought a delegation to meet with Netanyahu that included Nicolai Mladenov, Trump’s envoy for the Gaza peace process, as well as Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, and senior advisors to the peace delegation, Arie Lichtstein and Liran Tankman.

During the meeting, Netanyahu expressed deep doubt about Hamas’s commitment to deep demilitarization and asked Kushner why he met with Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday.

A U.S. official said Kushner told Netanyahu that it is important to hear directly from Hamas leaders about their readiness to advance the demilitarization process.

According to a U.S. official, Kushner told Netanyahu: “The last time Steve Witkoff and I met with Hamas leaders, it led to the release of all the hostages.” He meant the release of the remaining hostages who had been taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks.

The bigger picture: A U.S. official and another source familiar with the meeting said that the political atmosphere in Israel ahead of the October election has created significant suspicion on the Israeli side—especially because Netanyahu’s opponents have attacked him for making concessions in Gaza.

According to the U.S. official and the second source, much of the meeting was devoted to explaining the peace delegation’s plan, correcting misconceptions, and responding to Netanyahu’s concerns.

Netanyahu showed Kushner two public-opinion polls during the meeting. One indicated that a majority of Israelis oppose rebuilding Gaza before demilitarization. Another poll indicated that most Israelis want attacks to continue against imminent threats in Gaza.

The U.S. official said Kushner explained to Netanyahu that the United States does not expect Israel to stop taking action against Hamas’s imminent threats. He emphasized that the Trump peace delegation’s plan assumes that the rebuilding process will begin only after demilitarization is completed.

Details: Kushner explained that the demilitarization process would work like this: first, Hamas would hand over its weapons to a Palestinian technocratic government, and this government would place the weapons in the hands of the “international stabilization force.” According to the U.S. official, that force would destroy the weapons.

Netanyahu instructed the heads of Israel’s military intelligence and Shin Bet to brief Kushner’s team about cases of breaches of commitments by Hamas.

Point of friction: At the same time as the meeting between Kushner and Netanyahu, Trump told Fox News that he wants Israel to stop its airstrikes in Gaza.

A peace delegation official said Trump meant attacks that are not carried out against imminent threats.

How exactly “imminent threats” would be defined is one of the main disagreements between the peace delegation and the Israeli government. A peace delegation official said this issue still needs to be resolved.

A U.S. official said Kushner and Netanyahu agreed to create a “conflict-resolution” mechanism in Gaza that would monitor instances of violations and address Israel’s concerns about emerging threats to prevent escalation on the ground. Egyptian mediators will also participate in the mechanism.

The U.S. official said: “If the Israelis see that Hamas is doing something that could turn into an emerging threat, they will report it to the conflict-resolution mechanism, and the mechanism will raise the issue with Hamas. In this way, Hamas will know that we are watching them.”

From a wider angle: A U.S. official said Netanyahu committed to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, especially with regard to water and sewage.

Kushner and Netanyahu also agreed to form two working groups—one on demilitarization in Gaza and the other on the humanitarian situation.

The U.S. official said: “Our differences with the Israelis aren’t that big. None of us has relied on Hamas. But we believe we can begin concrete and practical actions. The political space in Israel is full of creating fear and concern. But if we see that Hamas is handing over its weapons, that will be the first real sign that this process is genuine.”

After the meeting, Netanyahu’s office, in a statement, referred to the formation of two working groups and emphasized that demilitarization must be completed “before the start of rebuilding.”

A peace delegation official said the meeting was “long, deep, and very constructive.” He added: “We agreed with [Netanyahu] on the way forward. The Israelis will give this plan a chance. Now it’s up to Hamas to show whether it really intends to carry out its commitments or not.”