2 weeks ago
Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas Leader, Meets Trump's Son-In-Law Kushner
Khalil Al-Hayya is the leader of a group called Hamas, which fights against Israel.
He met with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the President of the United States.
The meeting took place in Egypt and was the second time they talked.
Hamas and Israel have been fighting a big war in a place called Gaza, and many people have been hurt.
The United States made a plan in which Hamas would give up its weapons and Israel would leave Gaza.
Hamas says it will hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian government, but it does not like the word 'disarmament.'
Israel says it will not leave until Hamas has no weapons left.
Al-Hayya has lost many family members in the fighting, including his sons.
He says the group wants peace and a Palestinian state, in line with international law.
The United States calls Hamas a terrorist group, but Al-Hayya says the group is fighting for its rights.
Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' overall leader, met US envoy Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, in Egypt on Sunday.
It was Hayya's second meeting with Kushner, after October 2025 talks that helped clinch a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Hayya, named Hamas' overall leader in July, narrowly escaped a 2025 Israeli airstrike in Qatar that killed his son and aides.
Hamas agreed in July to hand over its weapons under a Trump-backed plan, but rejects the word 'disarmament'; Israel refuses to withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.
Hayya has defended Hamas' 'resistance', saying the October 7, 2023 attack was meant as a limited operation to capture soldiers for a prisoner swap.
- Who
- Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' overall leader, and Jared Kushner, US envoy and President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
- What
- A meeting in Egypt between Al-Hayya and Kushner — their second — as part of US efforts to end the Gaza war and secure the release of remaining hostages.
- Where
- Egypt — one article corrects the location from Cairo to Egypt, while another reports Cairo.
- When
- Sunday; the articles are dated August 17. A previous meeting took place on October 8, 2025, and Hayya was named Hamas' overall leader in July.
- Why
- To advance a Trump-backed plan linking Hamas' handover of its weapons to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the release of remaining hostages.
Hamas
Israel and the United States
Disarmament and withdrawal
Hamas
Hamas agreed to hand over its weapons to be stored under the control of a US-backed Palestinian technocratic government and rejects the word 'disarmament'.
Israel and the United States
Israel rejected the plan and says it will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed.
October 7 attack
Hamas
Hayya says the October 7, 2023 attack was meant as a limited operation to capture soldiers for a prisoner swap, and that the Israeli army unit 'completely collapsed'.
Israel and the United States
The US designates Hamas as a terrorist group; Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 others in the attack.
Long-term peace offer
Hamas
Hamas leaders have at times offered a long-term truce with Israel in return for a viable Palestinian state on territory occupied in the 1967 war.
Israel and the United States
Israel regards this offer as a ruse.
Key facts
- Hamas leader
- Khalil Al-Hayya (named overall leader in July)
- Meeting
- Second with Jared Kushner, held in Egypt on Sunday (one article corrects location from Cairo to Egypt)
- Previous meeting
- October 8, 2025 with Kushner and Steve Witkoff; helped clinch a ceasefire and hostage-release deal
- Born
- Gaza Strip, 1960; PhD in Islamic Studies
- Base
- Qatar, since 2021
- US policy
- Meetings mark a departure from Washington's longstanding policy of shunning Hamas, which the US designates a terrorist group
- October 7, 2023 attack toll
- 1,200 killed and 251 abducted in Israel
- Gaza war death toll
- More than 73,000 killed, according to Gazan health authorities
Quotes
Steve Witkoff
U.S. envoy and former ambassador to the United Nations
“I told him that I had lost a son, and that we were both members of a really bad club, parents who have buried children.”
theprint.in
NDTV
Khalil Al‑Hayya
Hamas chief and overall leader
“We told them … what we want. We want stability, we want a Palestinian entity, we want a Palestinian state in accordance with international law and relevant resolutions. We want to live in peace so that the region can stabilise, and without that, the region will not stabilise.”
theprint.in






