Kushner heads to Middle East in an attempt to settle tensions between leaders

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week to try to ease tensions in the region, according multiple news reports.

Kushner has been a key figure in the Middle East peace deals. In his upcoming trip, he will try to negotiate an end to a boycott against Qatar in which Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates halted relations with the country in 2017 in a political dispute. 

Mideast envoy Avi Berkowitz and former special representative for Iran Brian Hook will accompany Kushner as they attempt to negotiate with Gulf leaders, sources told the news agencies.

The four countries cut ties by executing an economic boycott from Qatar, which stopped Qatar Airways flights from using their airspace. It also blocked ships from using their ports and blocked their sole land border with Saudi Arabia. 

About 10,000 American troops are based in Qatar as well as the U.S. military’s Central Command Forward Headquarters. This could be Kushner's final attempt at another Middle East peace negotiation if Joe Biden is certified as president.