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Netanyahu rejects roadmap
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel rejects the Gaza Peace Council’s 15-point document and insisted that the IDF will not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas is disarmed.
“Israel does not accept the 15-point document”
In comments broadcast on television and directed at his right-wing government, Netanyahu said, “Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” and added that the army “will not withdraw even a single centimeter from Gaza.”
Reuters reported that Israel has reduced its attacks in Gaza since Monday, when Netanyahu met Nikolay Miladinov, the peace council envoy formed by Trump to oversee a ceasefire in the strip.
The Reuters account tied the dispute to timing, saying Israel would not move until Hamas is disarmed while Hamas insisted Israel halt its attacks before it begins implementing the weapons-related aspects of the agreement.
Hamas’s position, as Reuters relayed it, was that it remains committed to the road map agreed with mediators in Cairo ten days ago and expected the mediators and the American guarantor to press Netanyahu to adhere to it.
Hamas urges pressure
Hamas confirmed it was sticking to what it said was agreed with mediators and the Peace Council regarding the roadmap to complete the implementation of the second phase, and it called on Washington to pressure the Israeli government to commit to the roadmap.
A Reuters report quoted a Hamas official saying, “We expect mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap.”
Reuters also reported that Hamas has avoided using the term “laying down weapons,” saying it agreed to hand over weapons to be stored under the supervision of a US-backed technocratic administration that would manage Gaza under the Peace Council.
The Reuters account described the standoff as one in which Hamas said implementation would depend on Israel first fulfilling its commitments, including withdrawal.
Reuters further said health officials in Gaza have reported more than 1,250 killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, while Hamas has not disclosed the number of its fighters killed.
Reconstruction and political stakes
Netanyahu linked Israel’s refusal to withdraw to conditions on reconstruction, saying Gaza cannot begin any reconstruction until Hamas is fully dismantled and its spread in Gaza is prevented.
“Gaza cannot begin any reconstruction until Hamas is fully dismantled”
In the Reuters account, Netanyahu also said Israel is in talks with the United States about the plan and that “They (the United States) have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some not.”
The BBC reported Netanyahu’s stance at a Sunday cabinet meeting, quoting him as saying, “When I say Hamas must disarm, I mean both heavy and light weapons, and all weapons.”
The BBC also reported Netanyahu’s insistence that “As long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state,” while Reuters said Israel has threatened to pursue every fighter who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack before it halted directed attacks on Monday.
Reuters framed the immediate operational consequence as Israel having effectively paused its attacks under pressure from the U.S., while still limiting military action to what it considers direct threats in Gaza and no longer carrying out targeted assassinations on a near-daily basis.
