Netanyahu Rejects U.S. Gaza Plan, Says No Withdrawal Until Hamas Fully Disarmed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rejected a U.S.-backed 15-point Gaza peace plan, stating that Israeli forces will not withdraw from their current lines in Gaza until Hamas has been completely disarmed, a move that has strained relations with Washington.
In televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday, Netanyahu restated his rejection of Donald Trump’s latest Gaza plan even as Israel’s military has effectively halted attacks in the territory under pressure from the U.S. President.
The prime minister said “Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” and that the military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed… it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament”.
Netanyahu suggested there were direct differences between Israel and the Trump administration over the deal, saying in remarks on social media that the Trump administration “sent us a draft.
We did not agree. It is not our draft. We sent our comments. This is our position. We stand firm on our interests”. He added that Israeli forces would continue to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, the territory and citizens.
The dispute centers on sequencing. The Trump administration’s agreement called for Hamas to begin disarming and for Israel to halt its strikes and begin withdrawing from Gaza as part of an October ceasefire agreement that ended major military operations but has stalled on other fronts.
Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an International Stabilization Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.
Israel has insisted that Israeli troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms, while Hamas has insisted that Israel halt attacks before it begins implementing the part of the agreement dealing with its arms.
Hamas has avoided the use of the term “disarmament” and said it agreed to hand over weapons to be stored under a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocrat administration that would run affairs in Gaza under supervision of Trump’s Board of Peace.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the group remained committed to the roadmap agreed with mediators in Cairo 10 days ago and expects the mediators and the U.S. guarantor to press Netanyahu not to obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons.
The standoff comes as Netanyahu is in campaign mode seeking re-election in a vote due on October 27 but is caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and President Trump who wants progress toward ending the conflict.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the decision, saying Israel went to war with the central goal of the destruction of Hamas and that the military cannot withdraw even a millimeter from the Strip before complete dismantling of Hamas.
Israel has scaled back attacks since Monday after Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, met with Netanyahu, with a source saying the military would now only act against what it perceives as immediate threats and no longer carry out targeted assassinations on a near-daily basis.
The ceasefire itself remains fragile. Since it took effect in October, at least 1,252 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, while Israeli troops have occupied two-thirds of the enclave, leaving nearly all of its more than 2 million residents confined to a tiny coastal strip.
Overall, the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, while Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,377 Palestinians including since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza health officials. #Netanyahu Rejects U.S. Gaza Plan, Says No Withdrawal Until Hamas Fully Disarmed# Netanyahu Says Israel “Not Done Yet” in Attacks on Iran
