Netanyahu, Kushner Clash Over Israel’s Continued Strikes on Oct. 7 Terrorists

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Netanyahu, Kushner Clash Over Israel’s Continued Strikes on Oct. 7 Terrorists

Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner were at odds during their Monday meeting over Israel’s determination to keep targeting Hamas terrorists accused of participating in the October 7 massacre, with Netanyahu refusing to commit to ending the strikes despite American concerns, according to an official who attended the talks, the Times of Israel reports. The disagreement centered on Israel’s ongoing campaign to track down those involved in the October 7, 2023, invasion and atrocities. Earlier this month, Israel publicly confirmed for the first time that it had launched a dedicated operation aimed at locating and killing every Palestinian terrorist who took part in the attack. Those operations have at times resulted in breaches of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas in October 2025. Until now, however, the U.S.-controlled Board of Peace has largely refrained from forcefully challenging the strikes, particularly when the IDF has maintained that the individuals being targeted presented an immediate danger to Israeli forces. For months, the Board of Peace concentrated its efforts on persuading Hamas to agree to a framework requiring the terror group to disarm. Hamas ultimately accepted the proposal on July 30. Under that framework, once implementation begins, both Israel and Hamas are supposed to immediately cease military activity. Netanyahu has opposed that provision, and the official who attended Monday’s meeting said the prime minister specifically raised his objections during his discussion with Kushner. Kushner told Netanyahu that Washington would not stand in the way of IDF action against individuals who truly present an “imminent threat.” At the same time, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser cautioned Netanyahu against interpreting that exception too broadly, according to the official. Netanyahu nevertheless maintained that Israel would continue striking terrorists who participated in the October 7 attack, frustrating members of the Board of Peace delegation. The two sides ended the discussion without resolving their differences, the official said. A second source who was briefed on the discussions corroborated that account of the meeting. The dispute took on added significance just hours after Kushner departed Israel, when the IDF launched one of its deadliest attacks in months. The military said the strike targeted a gathering of senior Hamas operatives. At least six people were reportedly killed, including a minor, while more than 10 others were wounded. Netanyahu’s insistence on preserving Israel’s freedom to pursue October 7 terrorists could conflict not only with the Board of Peace’s stalled disarmament framework, but also with President Trump’s 20-point proposal for bringing the Gaza war to an end, which Netanyahu agreed to in September 2025. Trump’s plan provides that Hamas members who “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty.” Another point of contention at Monday’s meeting involved Netanyahu’s refusal to permit recruits for a newly planned Palestinian police force to travel from Gaza to Egypt for training, according to the official who was present. The Board of Peace’s disarmament framework calls for Hamas to surrender its weapons to a new police force operating under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. The International Stabilization Force is expected to facilitate the weapons-transfer process. Kushner said Monday that he wants Hamas to start turning over its weapons within one month. But that timetable faces a significant practical obstacle: Unless enough Palestinian police recruits are trained and ready to deploy, there will be no sufficiently prepared force to receive the weapons Hamas is supposed to surrender. {Matzav.com}