Israel rejects Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying no withdrawal until Hamas disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said his country rejects the latest US-backed peace plan for Gaza, demanding the full disarmament of Hamas before any Israeli forces withdraw.

The comments come more than a week after Trump announced a breakthrough in negotiations, with his Board of Peace (BoP) issuing a new 15-point plan aimed at securing lasting peace in the territory

But in his first remarks directly addressing the plan, Netanyahu said: “I want to be precise here: Israel rejects the 15-point document.”

He said the Israeli military would “not withdraw at all until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens.”

“We are now discussing this with the Americans,” he added. “They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand up to those things.”

“As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will be established — not in Gaza and not in the West Bank,” Netanyahu said.

After Trump’s announcement on July 31 there was a brief surge in Israeli strikes on Gaza, but these have declined over the last few days.

Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition faces an election at the end of October and is trailing in opinion polls. The prime minister must balance pressure from Washington with demands from hardline ministers not to make concessions to Hamas.

After the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Netanyahu vowed Israel would eradicate the group.

Referring to Israeli military action in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as strikes in Iran earlier this year, Netanyahu said: “Contrary to all those who preach to us, we do what must be done for Israel’s security and we can and will stand our ground even against our best friends when necessary.”

At the end of July, US President Donald Trump announced what he described as a historic agreement to secure the disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, months after the president first announced a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas said it would only go through with the deal if Israel halts strikes in Gaza and pulls troops back to the “yellow line,” as defined by the October ceasefire agreement.

On Sunday a senior official of the group said it remained committed to the roadmap set out by Trump’s Board of Peace.

“We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons” said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ politburo on X .

After meeting with the special UN envoy for Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Aati said that all parties must “fulfill their commitments and refrain from taking any actions that could hinder the implementation process or undermine the progress achieved.”

Israeli forces currently occupy more than half of Gaza, in the east and south of the territory and senior ministers have signaled they want to expand control.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet welcomed Netanyahu’s stand on Sunday.

“The (Israel Defense Forces) cannot retreat one millimeter in the Gaza Strip,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Netanyahu’s rejection of Trump’s initiative will further strain a close relationship. Last year, he described the US president as “the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House.”

Trump has suggested that Netanyahu should receive a pardon rather than face corruption charges, saying in March that Israel’s President Isaac Herzog “must ​give Bibi a pardon today. I don’t want there to ​be anything troubling Bibi other than the war with Iran.”

But there has also been growing friction over Israeli strikes in Lebanon this year, and the Netanyahu government only reluctantly accepted the ceasefire in April with Iran.

以色列总理内塔尼亚胡周日表示，以色列拒绝接受美国支持的最新加沙和平计划，要求哈马斯在以色列军队撤离之前彻底解除武装。

特朗普发表上述评论一周多前，他宣布谈判取得突破，其领导的和平委员会发布了一项新的15点计划，旨在确保该地区的持久和平。

但内塔尼亚胡在首次直接谈及该计划时表示：“我想在这里明确一点：以色列拒绝接受这份15点文件。”

他表示，以色列军队“在哈马斯真正解除武装之前绝不会撤军，并将继续挫败针对我们军队和公民的威胁”。

“我们现在正在和美国人讨论这个问题，”他补充道。“他们有一些想法，有些我们可以接受，有些则不能，我们知道如何应对这些不同的想法。”

内塔尼亚胡说：“只要我还是总理，就不会建立巴勒斯坦国——无论是在加沙还是在西岸。”

7月31日特朗普宣布这一消息后，以色列对加沙的空袭一度激增，但最近几天空袭次数有所减少。

Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

内塔尼亚胡的右翼联盟将在10月底面临大选，目前民调支持率落后。这位总理必须平衡来自华盛顿的压力和强硬派部长们提出的不向哈马斯做出让步的要求。

2023年10月哈马斯袭击以色列后，内塔尼亚胡誓言以色列将彻底铲除该组织。

内塔尼亚胡在谈到以色列在加沙和黎巴嫩的军事行动，以及今年早些时候对伊朗的袭击时说：“与所有对我们说教的人相反，为了以色列的安全，我们做我们必须做的事情，必要时，即使面对我们最好的朋友，我们也能而且将会坚持立场。”

7 月底，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普宣布了一项他称之为历史性的协议，旨在确保哈马斯和加沙所有其他武装团体解除武装。此前几个月，特朗普总统首次宣布了由美国斡旋的哈马斯和以色列之间的停火协议。

哈马斯表示，只有以色列停止对加沙的空袭并将军队撤回10月份停火协议中定义的“黄线”内，它才会履行该协议。

周日，该组织的一位高级官员表示，它仍然致力于执行特朗普和平委员会制定的路线图。

“我们希望调解人和美国担保人向内塔尼亚胡及其政府施压，要求他们遵守路线图，不要出于内部政治和选举原因阻碍这一进程，”哈马斯政治局成员巴塞姆·纳伊姆在X问题上表示。

埃及外交部长巴德尔·阿卜杜勒-阿提在与联合国加沙问题特使尼古拉·姆拉德诺夫会面后表示，各方必须“履行其承诺，避免采取任何可能阻碍执行进程或破坏已取得进展的行动”。

以色列军队目前占领了加沙地带一半以上的地区，包括东部和南部，高级部长们已表示他们希望扩大控制范围。

内塔尼亚胡内阁中的极右翼成员对内塔尼亚胡周日的立场表示欢迎。

“以色列国防军在加沙地带一毫米都不能后退，”财政部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇说。

内塔尼亚胡拒绝特朗普的倡议将进一步加剧两国间的紧张关系。去年，他曾称这位美国总统是“以色列在白宫有史以来最伟大的朋友”。

特朗普曾暗示，内塔尼亚胡应该获得赦免，而不是面临腐败指控。他三月份表示，以色列总统伊萨克·赫尔佐格“今天必须赦免比比。除了与伊朗的战争之外，我不想让任何事情困扰比比。”

但今年以色列对黎巴嫩的空袭也引发了越来越多的摩擦，内塔尼亚胡政府直到 4 月份才勉强接受了与伊朗的停火协议。