Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel did not agree to the Board of Peace’s plan for disarming Hamas, which the terror group accepted last week.
In a video statement, Netanyahu insisted Israeli forces will not withdraw from their current positions in Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed. That stance appears to clash with the proposal, which calls for Israel to pull back to the original Yellow Line.
Netanyahu said President Trump’s team sent a draft of the plan. “We did not agree to it. It was not our draft. We sent back our comments,” he stated.
The draft came out of talks between Hamas, the Trump-linked Board of Peace, and mediators Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the U.S. A senior U.S. official had said the proposal is simply an extension of Trump’s 20-point plan that Israel already accepted last fall, and that Trump would be “very disappointed” if Israel blocked it.
The plan also requires Israel to immediately stop all military operations in Gaza once it takes effect. Israel has pushed back on that condition but reportedly agreed to tighter rules of engagement requiring the IDF chief’s approval for strikes. Netanyahu said Israeli soldiers are being instructed to do whatever is necessary to defend themselves, the territory and civilians.
