Netanyahu rejects Trump's 15-point Gaza plan, demands full Hamas disarmament before any withdrawal

Netanyahu rejects 15-point plan at Jerusalem cabinet meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the 15-point plan for Gaza put forward by the Gaza Peace Council, telling a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday that no Israeli military withdrawal will take place until Hamas is fully disarmed. He insisted that any disarmament must cover all weapons, not only heavy arms, and warned against what he called "fictitious disarmament." Netanyahu also said he was in discussion with US officials about how to proceed, and noted that some ideas from the US government's plan were acceptable, others not.

Israel rejects the 15-point document.

The plan's provisions

The 15-point document, developed under the framework of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, outlined a sequence of steps: a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the establishment of a Palestinian transitional administration backed by an international stabilization force to take control of governance and security, and a subsequent withdrawal of the Israeli army. The Israeli withdrawal was part of the second phase of the peace plan. Weapons surrendered by Hamas under international supervision would remain under Palestinian control. Israel rejects this last point, demanding instead that all Hamas arsenals be removed entirely from Palestinian territory. The Peace Council had communicated about a week earlier that it expected Israel to withdraw only after Hamas disarmament, a sequence that aligns with Netanyahu's demand on timing but diverges on the question of where the weapons should end up.

Hamas conditions and Palestinian state

Hamas made the handover of heavy weapons contingent on several conditions, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reaffirmed his rejection of an independent Palestinian state, saying that as long as he is prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state in Gaza or the West Bank. The combination of positions leaves the plan stalled: Israel demands complete disarmament before any withdrawal, while Hamas conditions its disarmament on that same withdrawal and on statehood, a demand Netanyahu has repeatedly excluded.

Diplomatic timeline and political context

Trump's Gaza peace plan was first announced in September 2025. Both Israel and Hamas agreed to the plan, which began with a ceasefire. However, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza since agreeing to that initial ceasefire in October 2025. At the beginning of 2026, an internationally staffed "Board of Peace" was established under Trump's peace plan, tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza and the post-war order in the widely destroyed coastal territory. Last month, Trump announced a breakthrough, saying Hamas, which has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, had accepted a complete disarmament plan. Hamas confirmed that agreement. With Israeli elections months away, Netanyahu is unlikely to want to make concessions.