Muslim countries condemn Israeli rejection of Gaza plan

Five Arab countries, as well as Türkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia, say Israel's stance against the US president's Gaza peace plan is placing its implementation in jeopardy.

The countries accuse Israel of "obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza".

It comes as US envoy Jared Kushner is believed to have met Hamas officials in Egypt for talks.

Five Arab countries together with Türkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia have jointly condemned Israel's rejection of Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, as the US president's special envoy meets Hamas representatives for talks.

In a joint statement, the countries including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE, said the rejection threatened Mr Trump's intensified efforts to end war in Gaza.

On July 30, Hamas said it would hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body as part of the latest stage in a Gaza ceasefire declared by Mr Trump, who hailed their agreement as a "major milestone".

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election fight in October, said Israel rejected the agreement and voiced scepticism that Hamas would actually give up its weapons.

Mr Netanyahu expressed opposition to the plan even after he was assured by Gaza's representative on Mr Trump's Board of Peace that Israel would not need to pull troops out of the Gaza Strip until complete disarmament by Hamas.

In the joint statement, foreign ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt said they condemned Israel's rejection of the plan.

"Rejecting the Road Map constitutes an explicit refusal to proceed with the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, and directly threatens to derail the extensive efforts exerted by US President Trump to bring an end to the war in Gaza and establish the conditions for lasting peace," the statement said.

"They further stress that Israel bears direct and full responsibility for any consequences resulting from its continued rejection, obstruction, delay or non-compliance, including any resulting deterioration of the situation on the ground and disruption of ending the war in Gaza."

Two weeks after Hamas publicly signed on to the latest phase of the deal, Jared Kushner, who is Mr Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, flew to Egypt ahead of expected talks on Monday in Jerusalem.

"Mediators informed Hamas that US envoy Jared Kushner will hold a meeting with the Hamas leadership, in the presence of Egyptian and Qatari officials, before Kushner travels to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," a Hamas source told news agency AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

Mr Kushner met with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza high representative in Mr Trump's "Board of Peace" set up to implement the deal, Egypt's government said.