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Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and Middle East envoy, will meet with Hamas leadership in Egypt as part of a push to advance his Gaza peace plan, Hamas sources told AFP on Sunday, ahead of a planned meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mediators have informed Hamas that Kushner will hold a meeting with the group's leadership, one Hamas source said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the diplomacy.
Egyptian and Qatari officials are expected to be present at the meeting, the source said, adding that Kushner will travel to Israel afterward to meet with Netanyahu.
Earlier Sunday, Kushner met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the Mediterranean coastal city of El-Alamein to discuss implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to a spokesperson for the Egyptian presidency.
The talks underscored the importance of continued cooperation between Egypt and the United States, with spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennaway saying in a statement that both countries remain committed to "supporting security and stability at the regional and international levels."
El-Shennaway added that the .discussion also touched on the need to resolve the region's various crises in order to preserve regional stability.
During the meeting, Kushner described Egypt as a "key partner of the United States in the Middle East," according to El-Shennaway.
Separately, a Hamas delegation led by the group's chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, was in Cairo on Sunday for talks related to the Gaza ceasefire, the group said. Al-Hayya met with Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, according to Egyptian state-run media.
It remained unclear whether al-Hayya would also meet with Kushner, as well as with Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov and executive board member Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, both of whom are scheduled to travel to Israel and Egypt this week.
The Board of Peace was established by the Trump administration to oversee implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which halted more than two years of fighting after being reached last October.
Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat and former United Nations Middle East envoy, serves as the board's high representative, while Blair sits on its executive board alongside Kushner and other officials.
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