Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has rejected a 15-point Gaza proposal associated with US President Donald Trump, insisting that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas has been genuinely disarmed.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel opposed the document and that the military would continue acting against threats to its forces and citizens.
Trump’s Board of Peace said last month that it had reached an agreement on the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. Hamas, however, said it would hand over heavy weapons only if Israel ended what it called all forms of aggression and withdrew its troops from Gaza.
Netanyahu said Hamas must disarm before any Israeli withdrawal, stressing that Israel would not accept what he described as a fictitious disarmament. He said he was discussing possible next steps with US officials, adding that some of their ideas were acceptable to Israel while others were not.
Plan faces further opposition
The proposal is part of a Gaza peace plan announced in September last year. It included the creation of a Board of Peace to oversee implementation, Hamas’s disarmament, an Israeli troop withdrawal and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Gaza despite agreeing to an initial ceasefire in the territory last October.
Netanyahu’s position comes only months before Israeli elections. He has also faced pressure from far-right allies to hold another cabinet vote and abandon the Gaza plan. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has said the draft was not acceptable.
The differing positions on the sequence of disarmament and withdrawal leave the proposed arrangement unresolved. Hamas has linked the surrender of heavy weapons to an Israeli withdrawal, while Netanyahu has said that withdrawal cannot happen until Hamas is disarmed.
Source: BBC News
