Jared Kushner arrives in Israel to follow up Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza
US envoy Jared Kushner arrived in Israel after midnight on Sunday to follow up on the implementation of his country’s President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in his second visit in nearly three weeks.
According to the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, Kushner arrived in Tel Aviv to discuss the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hours earlier, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that Washington is pushing to allow the exit of about 150 militants from an underground tunnel in Rafah, to areas outside the control of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said that the US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to arrive in Israel on Monday, before Kushner’s arrival was announced.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation pointed out that the visit of the US envoys comes in the wake of intense US pressure on an Israeli to agree to grant a safe passage to dozens of Palestinian militants trapped in the Rafah tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, as this comes within the US vision aimed at accelerating the transition towards the reconstruction phase in the Gaza Strip, according to Trump’s plan.
In September, Trump unveiled his 20-point plan in three phases on Gaza, including a cessation of hostilities, a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, a mutual release of prisoners, immediate access of aid to the Strip, and the disarmament of Hamas.
On the other hand, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation stated that Israel had submitted an alternative proposal that wouldn’t kill the militants if they surrender, but rather arrest them and transfer them to interrogation inside Israel, as a compromise between US demands and Israeli security considerations.
The visit of the US envoys comes at a time when the crisis of dozens of Hamas fighters in Rafah continues, who are stuck in an area controlled by the Israeli army behind the so-called “Yellow Line” which is the line separating the areas controlled by the Israeli army and the rest of the areas in the Gaza Strip where Palestinians are allowed to be present.
In recent weeks, Hamas has tried to push forward the release of about 200 militants apparently being held in the tunnels of the Rafah area, and its attempts and those of various mediators have so far failed.
Last Tuesday, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir demanded the handover of the remains of officer Hadar Goldin, who was captured by Hamas in 2014, in exchange for considering the release of its members stranded in Rafah.
But he reiterated at a meeting of the security cabinet on Thursday that there would be no deal with the militants.
On Sunday evening, Israel received the body of Goldin, who was killed in August 2014 in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has held his body ever since.
For its part, the al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in a statement earlier on Sunday, blamed Israel for any clash with its operatives trapped in the city of Rafah.
The Qassam continued: “There is no principle in the Qassam dictionary of surrender and surrender to the enemy”.
From the start of the ceasefire agreement on October 10, 2025, until November 9, Hamas handed over the 20 Israeli prisoners alive and the remains of 26 others out of 28, most of them Israelis.
