Netanyahu rejects Trump Gaza plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza and will not withdraw its forces from the territory until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed.

“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday, referring to a plan tied to Trump’s Board of Peace and endorsed last month by Hamas, according to Al Jazeera.

The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens,” Netanyahu said.

Trump last month announced what he called “a monumental step toward lasting peace and security” after Hamas said it had accepted a disarmament plan for Gaza. Trump’s Board of Peace said it had reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

But the plan has run into immediate disagreement over sequencing and conditions. Hamas has said handing over its heavy weapons depends on Israel ending “all forms of aggression” and withdrawing its forces from Gaza. Netanyahu said Hamas must disarm before any Israeli pullout and said the process could not amount to “fictitious disarmament.”

Netanyahu said he is discussing next steps with U.S. officials. His remarks signal another setback for Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which the BBC reported was announced in September last year.

The U.S.-led Board of Peace said last week that an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would take place only after Hamas’s disarmament is complete, Al Jazeera reported. The statement followed a meeting between the body’s director, Nickolay Mladenov, and Netanyahu.

Israel and Hamas agreed to an initial ceasefire in Gaza last October, but Israel has continued to carry out strikes in the territory since then, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera described the attacks as near-daily and deadly across the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu’s position leaves unresolved the central dispute over the proposal: Israel says Hamas must first be fully disarmed, while Hamas has tied the surrender of heavy weapons to an end to Israeli aggression and a withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The disagreement comes just months before Israeli elections, a period in which the BBC reported Netanyahu is unlikely to want to make concessions.