Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects Trump’s plan for Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he rejects President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that the Israeli military will not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas is disarmed.
“And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting Sunday.
He added that Israeli officials are talking with the U.S. about the matter.
“They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable, and we know how to stand firm against these things,” Netanyahu said.
As long as he is prime minister, Netanyahu said during the meeting, “a Palestinian state will not be established.”
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim wrote on X Sunday that they are still committed to the agreement “despite all the challenges.”
“We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to press Netanyahu and his government to compel him to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the path for internal political and electoral reasons,” Naim said.
Trump announced last month a development in the plan, which includes Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government.
“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”
Badr Abdel-Aati, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Nikolay Mladenov, director-general Trump’s Board of Peace to oversee reconstruction in Gaza, had a call Sunday to discuss the plan. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Abdel-Aati “stressed the importance of adhering to the implementation of all agreed requirements, including ensuring full, safe and sustainable access to humanitarian aid, and completing the Israeli withdrawal from the sector.”
More than 73,377 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. That number includes at least 1,252 people killed in Israeli attacks even after an October 2025 ceasefire was agreed to by Israel and Hamas.
Israel’s current offensive in Gaza began after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led militants in Israel, where around 1,200 people were killed and 251 more were taken hostage.
Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s records department, told The Associated Press at least 7,400 people are still under the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes. Most of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million has been displaced.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over what it says are war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israel. Several human rights organizations and experts have also said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
