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Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected US President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that no military pull-out will happen until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed.

Trump’s Board of Peace in July proposed the 15-point plan, which mandated that Hamas disarm in exchange for providing a full Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and an eventual transition of power to an independent Palestinian National Committee.

Trump had said that the agreement would be implemented in stages, but Netanyahu said that he wanted a full disarmament first in order to implement the deal

On Gaza, he said:

Israel does not accept the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament. Right now, we are talking with the Americans about this issue.

But Hamas said handing over its heavy weapons was contingent on Israel ending “all forms of aggression” and withdrawing its forces from Gaza.

Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza since agreeing to an initial ceasefire in the territory last October.

You can read more of the background to this here.

Opening summary: Kushner reportedly meets Hamas as it calls for pressure on Israel

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest in the continuing conflicts in the Middle East.

Donald Trump’s envoys met with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo on Sunday, a diplomatic source said, aiming to advance the US president’s Gaza peace plan, even as Israel pressed on with airstrikes ⁠in the territory.

Hamas officials were present ⁠at some of the meetings ​that mediators held with Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, Reuters quoted the diplomat as saying.

In a statement later Hamas called on mediators and the US-created board overseeing the ceasefire to “compel” Israel to approve Trump’s latest roadmap for peace.

Kushner, Mladenov and former British prime minister Tony Blair were scheduled to meet on Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Associated Press cited two people as saying. The Israeli prime ⁠minister has said Trump’s 15-point Gaza plan is “unacceptable” – a rare public show of defiance against close ally the US.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that its aircraft struck two Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants in Gaza’s Khan Younis and Nuseirat. At least five Palestinians ‌were wounded in the strike that hit a tent encampment, Gaza medics said.

Meanwhile, the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran aimed at ending their conflict expires on Monday 17 August, with their talks still stalled.

Shipping through the strait of Hormuz slowed over the ⁠weekend, data showed on Monday, after attacks on tankers. Five commodity vessels ⁠transited ​the vital energy route on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, ship tracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in ⁠the previous weekend.

In other developments:

  • Israel resumed its airstrikes on Gaza in the past few days ‌after scaling back the attacks earlier this month. One of those wounded in the Khan Younis strike died from their wounds, medics at Nasser hospital said later. A separate airstrike, which the Israeli military said targeted another militant, hit an apartment in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, wounding several people, medics said.

  • A senior Israeli official said on Sunday that Israel was concerned about Washington’s demand to end targeted assassinations of Hamas militants in Gaza as the group rebuilds its forces, Reuters reported. Trump’s peace ⁠plan calls for the immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza and foresees Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from the territory and Gaza is rebuilt.

  • Several regional powers including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday condemned Israel’s rejection of the peace road map, saying the country is obstructing peace efforts.

  • The top US military commander in the Middle East visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea amid reports of mental health and supply issues onboard. Adm Brad Cooper praised the leadership of the long-deployed aircraft carrier.