Netanyahu rejects Trump's 15-point Gaza peace plan, demanding Hamas fully disarm first

Netanyahu rejects Trump's 15-point Gaza plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Sunday, August 9, the 15-point plan for Gaza backed by US President Donald Trump, declaring during a cabinet meeting that "Israel rejects the 15-point document." The plan, announced by Trump on July 30 (one source says July 31), calls for Hamas to gradually surrender its weapons to a new Palestinian government in Gaza, while Israel would gradually withdraw from more than half of the territory it has controlled since the October ceasefire. Netanyahu's office had initially expressed reservations, saying the framework "did not reflect Israel's positions," but had not fully rejected it until Sunday.

Netanyahu stated that Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas is completely disarmed.

The Israel Defense Forces will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say disarm Hamas, I mean all its weapons: the heavy ones, the less heavy ones, all of them. We are talking about real disarmament, not a fictitious one.

He referred to Trump as his "greatest friend in the White House" but said the US has some "unacceptable ideas" for Israel, adding that he is in dialogue with Washington. He also reiterated that no Palestinian state would be created while he is prime minister, coining the terms "Fatahistan" and "Hamasistan" to dismiss the possibility.

Hamas and mediators respond

Hamas reaffirmed its "firm commitment" to the plan, calling for its full implementation across all phases. Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told AFP that the US should pressure "Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons." Hamas also demanded a concrete timetable for Israeli withdrawal and a complete cessation of military operations. Islamic Jihad factions had also signed their commitment to disarm.

Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat serving as director general of the Peace Board for Gaza, spoke to Israel's Channel 12 and asked Netanyahu to trust the plan's verification mechanisms.

Nobody is obliged to do anything, and much less Israel, before we have verified measures on the ground.

He added that the plan only asks Israeli troops not to go beyond the "Yellow Line" delimiting their positions in Gaza, and that it does not tie Israel's hands if it needs to defend itself. Turkey and Egypt, key mediators alongside Qatar and the United States, called for continued insistence on the 15-point plan.

US downplays rejection

Anonymous US government sources told Channel 12 they downplayed Netanyahu's rejection, understanding it as political posturing ahead of the October elections, saying they "understand his political needs" and have "no problem with that, as long as he keeps doing what we ask." A White House official had previously said Trump would be "very, very disappointed" if Israel did not comply with its part. Israel had earlier given green light to the entry of the International Stabilization Force, a peace mission organized by Trump, into Gaza.

Electoral pressure and implementation hurdles

Netanyahu faces legislative elections on October 27, the first since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war. Polls place him tied or behind his rivals, and the Gaza plan is deeply unpopular among his conservative base and far-right coalition partners. Netanyahu and Trump had together launched the war against Iran at the end of February, but have since clashed over how to end it and over Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. More than 1,200 people have died in Gaza from Israeli offensive operations since the October 2025 ceasefire declaration.

Max Rodenbeck, director of the Israel-Palestine area at the International Crisis Group, told La Vanguardia that the plan represents the biggest advance in negotiations since the October ceasefire but that Israel must give its consent. He noted that everything indicates this government will not do so before the October elections. Implementation would require establishing an international verification body, deploying the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and creating a new Palestinian police force, a process that could take months.