Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan, Insists on Full Disarmament of Hamas

ISLAMABAD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump’s 15-point peace plan for Gaza, saying Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas is fully and genuinely disarmed.

According to Israeli media, Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that Israel would not settle for what he described as a symbolic or superficial weakening of Hamas, but wanted the group’s military capabilities completely dismantled.

Netanyahu said discussions with the United States were continuing, adding that some US proposals were acceptable to Israel while others remained unacceptable.

Trump’s plan calls for the phased disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, international monitoring of the process, the deployment of an international stabilization force and a phased Israeli withdrawal linked to progress on disarmament.

A Board of Peace report submitted to the United Nations said the withdrawal of Israeli forces would be tied to verifiable progress by Hamas and other armed groups in surrendering their weapons.

Hamas, meanwhile, has expressed commitment to the roadmap agreed in Egypt, but maintains that Israel must first halt military operations and withdraw its forces before progress can be made on the issue of weapons.

The key dispute therefore remains over the sequencing of Hamas’s disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The Trump administration is seeking to link the two issues as part of the implementation of its peace framework, but Netanyahu’s latest position has added a new obstacle to the negotiations.

According to the Board of Peace report, pledges of around $17 billion have been made for Gaza’s reconstruction. The plan also envisages a Palestinian technocratic administration and the deployment of an international stabilization force.

Netanyahu’s position is expected to further complicate US efforts to advance a broader framework combining a Gaza ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament and reconstruction.