Hamas tells AFP it is committed to Gaza deal after Kushner's Israel visit

GAZA CITY: 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 roadmap,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP.

“There are timelines and procedural steps that need to be worked out in detail, but there must first be Israeli approval of the roadmap,” he said.

Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, held a rare meeting with Hamas on Sunday in Egypt before meeting the following day in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kushner, in a Fox News interview after the talks, said that Hamas’s disarmament could begin in about 30 days and that reconstruction of Gaza would not begin until that happens.

Kushner also said that the United States is “not going to restrict Israel’s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats” in Gaza.

Netanyahu has demanded that Hamas fully disarm. In his talks with Kushner, the two sides agreed that a US general would oversee the surrender of weapons, according to an Israeli official.

Trump’s “Board of Peace” implementing the deal has also 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.

Israel has kept up airstrikes in Gaza despite the peace push.

The Israeli military claimed Tuesday that a strike two days earlier had killed a commander of the Islamic Jihad group.

Israeli operations have killed at least 1,265 Palestinians since a ceasefire came into effect on October 10, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks from Gaza operations over the same period.