Benjamin Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s 15-Point Gaza Peace Plan, Demands Hamas Disarmament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan, saying Israel’s military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed” and that it “rejects the 15-point document.”

“will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed”

France 24

Netanyahu made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, and he said the disarmament he demanded meant “heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry.”

ABC News

The dispute centers on Trump’s Board of Peace proposal, which called for Hamas to disarm as Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, and the plan was announced after Trump said there had been a breakthrough in his peace plan for the Gaza Strip in the form of a 15-point proposal.

The Times of Israel reported that Israel informed the White House it would be willing to negotiate an agreement halting the targeted assassination of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but that any such deal would exclude those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack.

After Netanyahu’s rejection, U.S. President Donald Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office in Washington that his relationship with Netanyahu is “very good,” despite the Israeli prime minister rejecting the 15-point plan.

The Times of Israel said Trump was asked whether he had any response to Netanyahu’s rejection, and Trump replied, “I have a response. I put it out today on Truth — a good response,” referring to his Truth Social platform.

Al Jazeera

The Guardian reported that Netanyahu said he was confronting a “wave of rumours about Israeli weakness and Israeli withdrawals on all fronts,” and he said he was raising objections with the United States.

In response to Netanyahu’s stance, Nickolay Mladenov, the head of Trump’s Board of Peace, told Israel’s Channel 12 television that the option being offered was “the only way forward that ensures this tragedy does not happen again,” referring to the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Netanyahu’s rejection comes as he faces elections scheduled for October 27, with France 24 reporting he is trying to shore up his base ahead of “close elections” and with DW saying the disagreement is at a politically sensitive moment for Netanyahu ahead of elections.

“The [military] cannot withdraw even a millimetre from the Gaza Strip”

DW

DW reported that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed Netanyahu’s position, saying, “We went to war with a central goal: the destruction of Hamas,” and that “The [military] cannot withdraw even a millimetre from the Gaza Strip.”

The BBC said Hamas responded to Netanyahu’s rejection by expressing commitment to the plan and calling for “the complete withdrawal of Israel, the reapertura of the crossings, allowing the entry of assistance humanitaria e iniciar la reconstrucción.”

The Times of Israel described how the disarmament roadmap discussions with Israel were continuing, quoting a Board of Peace official saying, “The plan is very much still operative and advancing,” and that “Discussions with Israel are continuing.”