Israel rejects Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw forces from Gaza until Hamas fully disarms.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has rejected United States President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace plan for Gaza and will not withdraw forces until the Palestinian group Hamas fully disarms.
“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, referring to a plan endorsed last month by the Palestinian group Hamas.
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The Israeli army “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed … and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens”, he added.
He added that Israel is “talking to the Americans about this issue”.
“They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some are not acceptable to us, and we know how to stand firm on these things,” the prime minister said.
There was no immediate response from the White House or Hamas.
Israel has continued to carry out near-daily deadly attacks across the Gaza Strip since agreeing to a “ceasefire” with Hamas last October.
Trump had announced on July 30 a “historic” agreement that entailed “the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza”, which he called “a monumental step toward lasting peace and security”.
But last week, the US-led Board of Peace said an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would only take place after the disarmament of Hamas is complete, following a meeting between the body’s director, Nickolay Mladenov, and Netanyahu.
Speaking to his cabinet Sunday, Netanyahu vowed that “as long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will arise” and emphasised that Israel would not abide by the US-backed plan.
Israel’s desire for “real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament” would mean removal of all weaponry, including lighter weapons, he said.
The 15-point plan calls for initially focusing on Hamas’s heavy weaponry, military production sites, weapons depots and the group’s extensive tunnel network.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said Netanyahu’s statement raises “serious questions” for Palestinians about the path out of hostilities.
“The full rejection here puts the sequencing and the steps into question,” Mahmoud said.
Reporting from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said Netanyahu’s stated conditions could prove “extremely problematic for the Board of Peace and the mediators who have been working for months now to try to carry out the disarmament of Hamas”.
The roadmap would eventually involve transferring Gaza’s day-to-day administration to a technocratic Palestinian committee operating under the oversight of the Board of Peace.
Israel’s desire for “real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament” would mean removal of all weaponry, including lighter weapons, he said.
The 15-point plan calls for initially focusing on Hamas’s heavy weaponry, military production sites, weapons depots and the group’s extensive tunnel network.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said Netanyahu’s statement raises “serious questions” for Palestinians about the path out of hostilities.
“The full rejection here puts the sequencing and the steps into question,” Mahmoud said.
Reporting from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said Netanyahu’s stated conditions could prove “extremely problematic for the Board of Peace and the mediators who have been working for months now to try to carry out the disarmament of Hamas”.
The roadmap would eventually involve transferring Gaza’s day-to-day administration to a technocratic Palestinian committee operating under the oversight of the Board of Peace.
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