Kushner and Witkoff, After Meeting Hamas Delegation in Cairo, Arrive in Israel to Meet Netanyahu

Steve Witkoff, the US president's special Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son in law and senior adviser, arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday, 25 Mordad 1405 (August 16, 2026), and are due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, Monday, 26 Mordad. According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing CNN, the two had earlier met on Sunday in Cairo with a Hamas delegation and officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

Citing Reuters and a diplomatic source, several Hamas officials also attended some of the joint sessions with Kushner and Nikolai Mladenov, the senior coordinator for the Gaza peace council. The talks aim to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire and advance phase two of Trump's roadmap; Hamas had earlier said in a statement that it agreed to the roadmap and called for Israel to fully honor its phase one commitments under the Sharm el Sheikh ceasefire deal.