Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner on Aug. 16 as diplomatic efforts continue to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip.
While the diplomatic talks were ongoing, the Israel Defense Forces said on Aug. 16 on X that it carried out two airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in the Khan Younis area and a member of the Hamas terrorist group in the Nuseirat area.
Kushner was joined on Aug. 16 by Nikolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for the Gaza Strip, for meetings in Cairo with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators.
Kushner and Mladenov are scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Aug. 17 as they seek a path forward for implementing Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
The Israel Defense Forces said the two were involved in planning attacks and were struck in what it described as precision aerial strikes intended to eliminate the threat.
Hamas has said implementation of the agreement also depends on Israel fulfilling its commitments, including withdrawing its forces from the Gaza Strip and halting attacks.
The Aug. 16 meeting in El Alamein included Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service Hassan Rashad, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.
Kushner conveyed greetings from Trump to El-Sisi, while the Egyptian president emphasized the strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States and the two countries’ cooperation on regional security.
The talks focused on developments in the Middle East and efforts to resolve ongoing regional conflicts.
El-Sisi and Kushner also discussed Palestinian issues and the agreement reached at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October 2025 to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
The two sides emphasized “the need for all parties to fulfill their obligations under the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip,” according to the Egyptian presidency.
Kushner praised Egypt’s role in efforts to promote peace and stability in the region and described the country as a key U.S. partner in the Middle East.
Netanyahu restated during a government meeting on Aug. 9 that Israel had rejected the Board of Peace’s latest plan for the Gaza Strip, saying that Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.
Trump said in July that an agreement had been reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza Strip. Under the plan released by the Board of Peace, disarmament and the Israeli withdrawal would take place in phases, with an International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian police force assuming responsibility for security.
The Gaza Strip would ultimately be governed by a new Palestinian government working with the Board of Peace.
However, Netanyahu said Hamas must surrender all of its weapons before Israel withdraws. He said the disarmament must be genuine rather than “fictitious” and that Israel was continuing discussions with the United States over the proposal.
Netanyahu said some U.S. proposals were acceptable to Israel while others were not. He also said Israeli forces would continue to act against threats to Israeli troops and civilians.
The disagreement has left the timing of Hamas’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces as a key obstacle to implementing the peace plan.
