A boy walks carrying a table on his back past salvage workers scrapping the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, to use the recycled remains in the future, in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. (Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
A three-hour meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. envoy Jared Kushner in Jerusalem on Monday ended with an agreement allowing Israel to continue targeted strikes in Gaza for now, while efforts move forward on a broader plan for the territory’s reconstruction and disarmament, according to a source familiar with the talks cited by Haaretz.
The meeting was attended by Kushner, U.S. envoy to Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. The sides also agreed to begin work on sanitation infrastructure aimed at preventing disease outbreaks and contamination of groundwater and coastal waters, the source said.
Netanyahu described the talks as “deep and constructive” and said two working groups had been established: one focused on the “disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza,” and another on “sanitation, clean water and other public health issues, which also impact the people of Israel.”
Netanyahu said Israel and the Board of Peace agreed that Gaza’s disarmament and demilitarization must precede reconstruction efforts.
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