Israel has agreed to establish two parallel working groups to address the situation in Gaza, the Prime Minister's Office announced Monday following an extended four-hour meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior international mediators. The session included Jared Kushner, senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump; Nikolai Mladenov, a former UN envoy; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and members of the Peace Council, an international body working on post-conflict arrangements in Gaza.
According to the English-language statement from Netanyahu's office, the parties held "in-depth and constructive discussions" that resulted in agreement on two distinct working groups. The first will focus on weapons dismantlement and demilitarization of Gaza, while the second will address sanitation infrastructure, clean water, and other public health issues affecting Gaza residents that also impact Israeli citizens. The statement emphasized that both Israel and the Peace Council are "determined that this must be completed quickly before any rehabilitation in Gaza."
Earlier in the day, an Israeli political source briefing reporters provided additional details about the meeting's outcomes. According to this official, the parties reached consensus that no reconstruction anywhere in the Gaza Strip would proceed without complete disarmament of Hamas. The initial step in demilitarizing the territory would require Hamas to surrender all weapons for destruction under the supervision of General Jasper Jeffers, commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza. This process would encompass both heavy and light weaponry in what the source described as a genuine disarmament procedure.
The Israeli official further stated that Netanyahu made clear Israel would not retreat from its red lines and would maintain operational freedom, including the ability to thwart attacks from the Nuseirat area. The parties also agreed on the necessity of sanitation operations in Gaza to prevent disease outbreaks. The news outlet Wint reported that Netanyahu specifically demanded Hamas's weapons handover to General Jeffers occur under American supervision as the first step in any Gaza rehabilitation framework.
A source within the Peace Council characterized the meeting positively, saying Israel presented its security concerns and apprehensions in a professional manner. "The Council takes this very seriously," the source said. "Everyone agrees on the ultimate goal of complete disarmament of Hamas from its weapons and rule, full demilitarization of Gaza, and only then a complete Israeli withdrawal. You could say the direction in the meeting was positive and there is mutual desire to give this a chance."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Israel's security cabinet, issued a statement responding to the Netanyahu-Kushner meeting. "I commend the Prime Minister for standing firmly on real dismantlement and demilitarization of Hamas and Gaza, even in the face of international pressure. But this is still only halfway," Smotrich said. He argued that the war's central objective remains the complete destruction of Hamas, militarily, civilly, and governmentally, which he contended cannot happen without full Israeli conquest and control of Gaza, Israeli settlement there, and pursuit of Hamas leaders and operatives worldwide. "This goal is incompatible with conducting negotiations with Hamas leaders, who should not be alive at all," Smotrich stated, calling this "the root error of the 15-point plan" that Israel must clarify with the American administration.
