Kushner set to visit Israel, Egypt next week for Gaza talks

Jared Kushner, President Trump's envoy and son-in-law, is planning to visit Israel next week for talks on the situation in Gaza , according to five sources with knowledge of the plan.

Why it matters: This would be Kushner's first trip to Israel since January.

It comes as the White House and Trump's Board of Peace are trying to push forward with the next phase of the Gaza plan, which focuses on disarming Hamas and a potential Israeli withdrawal.

The Netanyahu government is highly skeptical of the U.S.

Gaza plan, and the upcoming election in October is making the issue even more politically sensitive.

"We see eye-to-eye on the strategic goal, but Israel has expressed some doubts about the plan and we want to talk to them in order to make sure we are coordinated," a U.S. official said, while noting the exact dates of the trip could change.

Driving the news: Trump announced two weeks ago that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement with Hamas to disarm and transfer civilian and security control of Gaza to a new Palestinian technocratic government.

On Sunday, under pressure from his coalition partners and political opponents, Netanyahu publicly rejected the plan for disarming Hamas.

His statement came a few days after he spoke on the phone with Kushner and promised to give the plan a chance, despite his skepticism.

He also pledged to curb attacks on Gaza so the demilitarization process could begin, a U.S. official said.

A senior U.S. official said the White House saw Netanyahu's statement as election-season politics and not necessarily a policy declaration.

"We understand Bibi's political needs.

We have no problem with it as long as he continues to do what we ask — especially regarding restraining attacks in Gaza," the U.S. official said.

Since then, Israel has conducted far fewer strikes on Gaza and the Israeli military (IDF) pulled back to the Yellow Line — where it was supposed to be deployed under the agreement.