Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,
U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Aug. 17 as Washington sought Israel’s support for a 15-point roadmap aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
Monday’s discussions were expected to focus on dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities, transferring civilian and security control in Gaza to a new Palestinian administration, and the conditions for an Israeli withdrawal.
The meeting follows Kushner’s talks on Sunday with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to Reuters. It marks the second known direct engagement between Trump administration envoys and representatives of the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Israeli sources separately confirmed to Epoch Magazine Israel that Kushner met with a Hamas representative in Cairo, although they did not identify the individual.
Hamas said in an official statement that a delegation led by al-Hayya had met under Egyptian sponsorship with mediators and guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. The statement did not identify Kushner or the other participants.
The group expressed hope that Trump “would continue his efforts to end the pain and suffering of our people and achieve security and stability for the region, as a supreme goal toward which everyone strives.”
Kushner previously met Hamas officials alongside U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in October 2025, helping secure an agreement that led to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages seized during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Israeli diplomatic officials previously told Epoch Magazine Israel that Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu is intended, in part, to assess the gaps between the Israeli government and the Trump administration regarding implementation of the 15-point roadmap.
Netanyahu has publicly rejected parts of the Board of Peace proposal, which Israeli officials say conflict with aspects of the 20-point Gaza peace plan initially put forward by Trump and accepted by Israel last year.
Dispute Over WithdrawalThe central dispute concerns whether Hamas must surrender all of its weapons before Israeli forces begin withdrawing from Gaza.
Netanyahu raised objections to the Board of Peace roadmap earlier this month, saying Israel would not pull back from its current positions until Hamas had been fully disarmed.
He said the disarmament must cover all of the terrorist group’s weapons and must be genuine rather than “fictitious.” Netanyahu added that some U.S. proposals were acceptable to Israel, while others were not.
Israel currently controls about 60 percent of Gaza. Netanyahu has previously warned that Israeli forces could advance farther if Hamas fails to disarm.
A boy walks carrying a table on his back past salvage workers scrapping the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, to use the recycled remains in the future, in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Trump said in late July that an agreement had been reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
“Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that the Board of Peace had reached a “historic” agreement paving the way toward lasting regional peace and security.
Under the Trump-backed roadmap, Hamas would hand over its weapons to a Palestinian administration intended to oversee daily operations in the territory. An International Stabilization Force and a newly formed Palestinian police force would assume responsibility for security as Israeli forces withdraw in phases.
The plan also calls for dismantling tunnels, weapons depots, military production sites, and other terrorist infrastructure. Hamas and other armed factions would be excluded from governing Gaza.
The Board of Peace said in an Aug. 3 post on X that Israeli forces would not withdraw beyond the so-called Yellow Line until Hamas’s light and heavy weapons had been decommissioned and its tunnels dismantled.
Israeli officials have raised concerns that allowing the new Palestinian administration and the international force to enter Gaza before Hamas is fully disarmed would depart from Israel’s understanding of Trump’s original 20-point plan.
Hamas has expressed support for the roadmap, saying in the Aug. 16 statement that its approval for the plan “stems from the interest of our people and the desire to achieve a permanent ceasefire.”
Salvage workers scrap steel rods from the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, to use the recycled remains in the future, in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
The group said its approval of the roadmap for the second phase of the plan is “based on the interests of our people and our commitment to achieving a permanent ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip, ensuring urgent and sustained humanitarian relief, beginning the work of the administrative committee, reconstruction, and the remaining agreed-upon obligations.”
Hamas has accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the first phase of the cease-fire.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey issued a joint statement on Sunday calling on Israel to fully accept the roadmap while denouncing Israeli rejection of Palestinian statehood.
“Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza,” they said.
Board member Nikolay Mladenov speaks after the signing of a Board of Peace charter during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2026. Evan Vucci/AP
Board of Peace CEO Nikolay Mladenov described the negotiations as “slow, grinding and technical work” in an Aug. 3 post on X.
He added that he met with Netanyahu and his team in Jerusalem that day, describing the discussions as the “start of the hard phase.”
Tyler Durden Mon, 08/17/2026 - 10:40While global equity indices are at or close to all-time highs, DB's Peter Sidorov writes that we’re seeing more challenging August crosswinds playing out in bond markets. Expectations for an imminent Fed rate hike have been pulled back, but this has been accompanied by a significant US curve steepening, with the backdrop of higher oil prices, elevated fiscal deficits, and demand for capital from the AI investment boom putting upward pressure on yields. The resulting long-end sell-off has also been a global affair, with 10yr OAT yields ending last week at their highest level since 2009 and the 30yr bund yields reaching a post-2011 high of 3.73% (see the full weekly recap at the end).
Bond markets could face further tests this week, with events including the flash August PMIs (Friday), minutes of the July FOMC meeting (Wednesday), as well as China’s monthly activity data a little later this morning. Meanwhile, this week’s 20yr Treasury auction (Wednesday) may become the most expensive Treasury bond issuance in the past 25 years – the current post-2001 high is a 5.245% yield at a 20yr auction in October 2023 and 20yr yields were 5.26% as of Friday.
That Fed pricing will be in focus with the minutes of the July FOMC meeting due on Wednesday. Given Chair Warsh has stepped back from offering policy guidance, the minutes may shed extra light on how the Fed is weighing inflation risks as well as their urgency to act should those risks remain elevated (narrator: "they won't"). Chair Warsh described the July discussion as a “good family fight” following the meeting, which saw three dissents in favor of a 25bps hike. While the minutes will be slightly stale after last week’s relatively tame CPI and PPI data, the +0.18% MoM reading our economists now foresee for July core PCE inflation still translates to a +3.2% YoY pace. So while the inter-meeting inflation data has likely reduced the urgency for imminent action by the Fed, they are far from providing sufficient confidence that inflation is trending back to the Fed’s objective.
Investors will also be watching the details of the FOMC discussion in the context of the sharp curve steepening we’ve seen since the July Fed meeting. The 2s10s slope has steepened by +20bps since July 28, its sharpest 13-session rise since the post-Liberation Day Treasury sell off last April.
Turning to this week’s data in more detail, the highlight will come with the flash August PMIs on Friday, including those for the US, Eurozone, Germany, France, UK and Japan. The resilience in economic activity data, including the PMIs, in the face of the Iran energy shock has been an important factor in supporting continued pricing of rate hikes across the major economies. Indeed, in July the composite PMI reached its highest levels since the start of the year in both the US and the Euro area.
In other events, we’ll have the latest Riksbank decision on Thursday, which is expected to keep rates on hold for an eighth consecutive meeting. Elsewhere in Europe, we’ll have the ZEW survey in Germany on Tuesday and the ECB’s July consumer expectations survey due Friday. For the latter, our own dbDataInsights survey suggests an uptick in short-term expectations but more stable medium-term ones. Otherwise, the UK will dominate the European data calendar, with the July inflation print on Wednesday, labor market data on Tuesday and retail sales on Friday. For the CPI print, our UK economists expect headline at 2.92% YoY and core CPI at 2.54%.
Before all that, the focus will be on China July activity data, including retail sales and industrial production, which will be out an hour or so after this hits your inboxes. The release comes as China’s domestic demand growth has been lackluster in recent months, putting the reflation that has emerged since late 2025 at risk. Underwhelming domestic growth has also contributed to the underperformance in China’s equity market, with the main indices essentially flat YTD, in contrast to a +13.7% rise for the S&P 500, +11.1% for the Stoxx 600 and +36.5% for the Nikkei.
Back to the US, where the earnings season begins to wind down...
... the spotlight will be on the US retailers Home Depot (Tuesday), Target, TJX (Wednesday) and Walmart (Thursday) to gauge the health of the US consumer. Other names to watch include Analog Devices and Deere in the US and Alibaba and Baidu in China.
Turning just to the US, the key economic data releases this week are the import prices report—because of its potential implications for core PCE—on Tuesday and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index on Thursday. There are currently no scheduled speaking engagements with Fed officials this week. The minutes to the FOMC’s July meeting will be released on Wednesday.
Monday, August 17
Tuesday, August 18
Wednesday, August 19
Thursday, August 20
Friday, August 21
Source: DB, Goldman
Tyler Durden Mon, 08/17/2026 - 10:25