Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected President Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan on Sunday, declaring that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas has been “genuinely” disarmed.
“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting, dealing another setback to the U.S.-backed effort to end the war in Gaza.
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 added.
In a post accompanying a clip of the formal announcement posted Monday, the Israeli leader wrote: “As long as I am Prime Minister, a Palestinian state will not arise – not in Gaza and not in the West Bank. Not Fatahstan and not Hamasstan.”
Netanyahu told his cabinet talks with U.S. officials were continuing despite his rejection of the document: “They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,” he said.
Trump’s Board of Peace announced last month that an agreement had been reached for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza in what Trump hailed as a “monumental step toward lasting peace and security.”
Hamas has said surrendering its heavy weapons depends on Israel ending “all forms of aggression” and withdrawing its forces from the territory.
The competing demands have left the Trump administration’s plan facing a fundamental dispute over which side must act first.
Meanwhile, a Hamas official said Sunday that the group “reaffirms its commitment” to the agreement and was prepared “to engage seriously and responsibly in implementing” the 15-point proposal, according to the BBC. The official called on mediators to ensure “all parties” complied.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, defended the proposal on Sunday, saying Israel had been asked “to give the process a chance” and describing it as “the only way forward”.
Mladenov said the process was designed to be “verifiable” and “reversible,” and stressed that Israel would not be required to withdraw until Hamas could be verified as taking steps toward disarmament.
The post Netanyahu Publicly Rejects Trump’s 15-Point Gaza Peace Plan first appeared on Mediaite.
