Netanyahu rejects Hamas disarmament proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has not accepted the Board of Peace’s proposal for Hamas to disarm, despite the group agreeing to the plan last week.
In his first public comments on the issue, Netanyahu said Israel would not withdraw its troops from their current positions in Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed.
“We will not withdraw from our current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.
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His position appears to conflict with the proposed agreement, which requires Israeli forces to return to the original Yellow Line in Gaza. Israel had withdrawn to that line under the October 2025 ceasefire and hostage-release deal, but has since expanded its control of the territory from about 53 percent to more than 60 percent.
The Board of Peace had proposed that Israel would only begin withdrawing after Hamas started handing over its weapons. However, Netanyahu insisted Israeli forces would not pull back at all.
He said US President Donald Trump and his team believed Hamas could be persuaded to disarm and demilitarise Gaza, but stressed that Israel had not approved the proposal.
“They sent us a draft. We did not agree to it. It was not our draft. We sent back our comments,” Netanyahu said.
The proposal was drafted after separate negotiations involving Hamas, the US-backed Board of Peace, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States. It was not originally intended to be renegotiated with Israel.
A senior US official said last week that the proposal builds on Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war, which Israel had already accepted. The official warned that Trump would be disappointed if Israel blocked the initiative.
In an effort to secure Israel’s support, senior Board of Peace envoys met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday. However, the talks appeared to make little progress.
The Board of Peace later signalled it might reconsider parts of the proposal, including the timetable for Israel’s withdrawal, in an apparent attempt to address Israeli concerns.
The plan also requires Israel to immediately stop all military operations in Gaza once it takes effect. Although Israel has objected to that condition, reports say it has agreed to tighten its rules of engagement, requiring approval from the Israeli military chief before launching any strike.
Netanyahu did not deny the reported change but said Israeli troops would continue to do whatever was necessary to protect themselves, defend Israel’s territory and ensure the country’s security.
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