As the Trump administration pushes its 15-point plan for Gaza and U.S. officials meet with the Hamas terror group’s political bureau chief, bereaved Israeli families are slamming Jared Kushner for engaging with terrorists. The Gevura Forum, representing families who lost loved ones in the war, launched a campaign attacking the negotiations. “Khalil al-Hayya is responsible for the rape of hundreds of women, Israelis and Americans, for the murder and kidnapping of hundreds of children, Israelis and Americans. And with him, Kushner is negotiating?” the families said.
2+“You fight terror, you don’t talk to it!” The campaign comes as Kushner visits Israel on a diplomatic mission to advance the 15-point plan, and after Trump administration representatives met this week in Egypt with al-Hayya, head of Hamas’s political bureau. The families are using the campaign to emphasize that for those who paid the heaviest price in the war, there can be no separation between political negotiations and the crimes committed by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.
2+The move is part of the families’ broader fight against negotiations with Hamas, which they say only strengthens the group on the ground. The families want decision-makers to make clear that Israel’s battle against Hamas cannot end with talks involving the organization’s leaders. Those responsible for the massacre, murder, kidnapping, and crimes committed against Israelis and Americans cannot be legitimate partners in political dialogue, they said.
2+Last week, the forum sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the security cabinet demanding an immediate return to decisive action and offensive operations in Gaza. The families warned about the security situation on the ground and argued that Hamas is exploiting Israel’s lack of initiative. They emphasized that the current situation endangers IDF soldiers and residents of southern Israel, and demanded that the government fulfill its commitment to defeat the terror organization.