Netanyahu rejects US-backed Gaza plan endorsed by Hamas, widening rift with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected a US-led Gaza plan that Hamas endorsed, signalling a break with President Donald Trump and deepening divisions over how to end the Gaza war.

Netanyahu opposes the 15-point document

At a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said:

“Israel rejects the 15-point document.”

He told ministers the Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed, and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens”, according to AFP.

Tension with the United States and Trump

Netanyahu described President Trump as

“our greatest friend in the White House”

but said Israel was raising objections to the plan with the United States. He told the cabinet:

“They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters.”

Political backdrop

AFP reports Netanyahu has in recent months campaigned on the strength of his relationship with Trump. The article notes Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and that the two leaders diverged after Trump sought a ceasefire and settlement.

Responses from mediators and Hamas

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, defended the plan to Israel’s Channel 12 television as

“the only way forward that ensures this tragedy does not happen again.”

AFP reports Mladenov said he hoped for a “positive outcome” from follow-up talks with Israel and characterised the latest stage of the deal as a commitment involving the United States, Hamas and the Board of Peace notably leaving out Israel.

Mladenov again promised that Israel would not face obligations until Hamas gave up all its weapons, “down to Kalashnikov rifles”, but said Israel would eventually need to pull out, according to AFP.

Hamas publicly backed the plan days after selecting a new leader, Khalil al-Hayya. Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP:

“We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap, and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons.”

Hamas issued a statement saying it remained committed to the plan, AFP reports.

Security actions and casualties

AFP reports the Gaza plan formed the latest stage in a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October that has reducedbut not endedIsraeli operations. Despite Netanyahu’s stance, the article says Israel appears to have decreased operations in Gaza since the deal was announced, without halting them completely.

AFP cites civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal saying Israeli gunfire on Sunday injured several people, including a child who was taken to hospital in Khan Yunis. The Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that Israeli operations in Gaza have killed 1,258 Palestinians since the ceasefire. The Israeli army reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period, AFP adds.

Wider regional developments

AFP reports Netanyahu last week ordered fresh strikes on Lebanon in response to what Israel called a ceasefire violation by Iran-backed Hezbollah. The article also says Trump joined Netanyahu in late February “in launching a war against Iran,” and that Netanyahu told his cabinet:

“with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons”

, according to AFP.

AFP