Gaza: Trump’s resort fantasy meets the reality of a concentration camp

Jared Kushner — the US Special Envoy for the Middle East and the American President’s son‑in‑law — travelled to Israel on August 17 for negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The talks yielded an agreement to set up two working groups: one tasked with demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, the other dedicated to public health matters inside the Palestinian enclave.

A day earlier, on August 16, Kushner also met with HAMAS representatives in Egypt. According to the Axios news outlet, the consultations centered on the Palestinian movement’s disarmament — exactly as envisaged by the 15‑point Peace Council plan for Gaza. This flurry of American diplomatic activity comes amid yet another impasse in the peace process, this time with Israel playing the spoiler.

The previous encounter between Jared Kushner and HAMAS members took place almost a year ago — in October 2025. Given how rarely Donald Trump's son‑in‑law sits down with Palestinian representatives, quite a few observers read the latest meeting as a pointed signal to Tel Aviv — a not‑so‑subtle hint that Washington may be deeply frustrated with its ally.

In late July, Donald Trump announced that a deal had been struck with HAMAS on full disarmament. Under the arrangement, other militant factions in the Palestinian enclave are also supposed to lay down their weapons. According to the US leader, as this process moves forward, Israeli forces are to pull out of the Gaza Strip, with security to be handed over to international stabilization troops and the Palestinian police. HAMAS, for its part, made it clear that surrendering heavy weaponry would be conditional on a complete halt to all Israeli military operations and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Moreover, earlier in July, HAMAS announced the dissolution of the Emergency Committee — a body that had effectively been running the territory as a de facto government — and the transfer of its functions to an international entity that would assume administrative control over Gaza.

Yet on August 9, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected the 15‑point Peace Council plan.

"The Israel Defense Forces will not begin any withdrawal until HAMAS is disarmed," the Prime Minister declared. "And when I say disarmed, I mean the complete handover of all weaponry — from heavy armor down to rifles."

In a swift rejoinder, eight Islamic nations — including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, and others — issued a joint statement condemning Tel Aviv's stance and holding it responsible for torpedoing the international efforts to resolve the Gaza conflict.

For all that, the Peace Council plan still fails to untie the central knot. For HAMAS, total demilitarization is not merely about losing control over Gaza — it is an existential threat. Without their weapons, movement members — and, quite probably, a considerable number of ordinary Gazans — would be picked off under one flimsy pretext or another. Israel's position, however, is not without its own grim logic. If Tel Aviv pulls its troops out while HAMAS surrenders only light arms — or even all its arsenal but keeps its manufacturing infrastructure intact — the movement could regenerate its military capacity in next to no time.

The pervasive mistrust means that each side insists the other must go first. A clear, binding timetable of specific, sequential steps for both parties could, for instance, help break the logjam. But no such schedule has materialized. Instead, we keep seeing new plans that largely echo one another. The 15‑point Peace Council plan, after all, first surfaced back in May. And before that, Donald Trump's own 20‑point blueprint — unveiled in September 2025 — is still supposedly in force, or at least has never been formally shelved.

Nor should one overlook the parliamentary elections set for October 27 in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu needs his party to prevail, because victory alone will keep him in the Prime Minister's chair. If he loses, the criminal cases could be resurrected against him — on fraud and corruption charges. In essence, Israel's domestic political calendar over the coming months will dictate the Gaza settlement’s pace and direction. Against that backdrop, the prospects for implementing any of the existing plans look rather slim. At a minimum, the Israeli Premier will want absolute certainty that his political opponents cannot weaponize any concession he makes. Moreover, his current outspoken posture of obstructing American initiatives is a surefire way to lock in the support of the most hardline voters.

Under these constraints, the US administration can do little more than simulate frantic activity to keep the Gaza plan on life support — and, through meetings like the one between Jared Kushner and HAMAS, flash signals of displeasure toward Israel. Donald Trump, who himself faces midterm congressional elections in November, is plainly not ready to take any bolder risks. There will surely be new realities — and, more than likely, yet another new plan.