The latest U.S. effort to revive a Gaza peace plan is caught between two incompatible demands: Hamas is being pressed to surrender its weapons and political authority, while Israel is expected to begin withdrawing as the agreement takes shape.

Jared Kushner met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday, seeking concrete and verifiable steps to implement the Trump administration’s 15-point roadmap. The agenda includes preserving the ceasefire, transferring governance to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, excluding Hamas from future rule and preparing for an international stabilizing force. ¹

The conservative account frames the meeting primarily as a test of Hamas’ willingness to fulfill its core obligation: complete disarmament. It emphasizes that Israel has made withdrawal conditional on proof that Hamas has surrendered not only heavy weapons but “all weapons,” and that the disarmament must be genuine rather than symbolic. ¹ Board of Peace chief Nickolay Mladenov likewise said Israel need not act until “verified steps” are visible on the ground. ¹

The liberal account presents a broader impasse. It acknowledges that Hamas must give up its weapons, military infrastructure and governing role, but stresses that regional governments blame Israel for rejecting the sequence envisioned by the plan. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other states said Israel “now bears responsibility for obstructing” implementation and urged immediate U.S. action. ²

That contrast reveals the plan’s central contradiction. Washington describes disarmament and Israeli withdrawal as linked steps, while Netanyahu insists withdrawal cannot begin first. Until the mediators establish who moves—and when—the diplomatic breakthrough remains more roadmap than agreement.