Netanyahu Rejects Trump-Backed Gaza Disarmament Plan, Deepening Rift With Washington

Coverage spread: 9 sources — 3 left · 1 center · 2 right · 3 international

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Where they agree

Netanyahu explicitly rejected the Board of Peace’s 15-point Gaza plan at a Sunday cabinet meeting, insisting Israeli forces won’t withdraw until Hamas is “genuinely” — not “fictitious” — disarmed.
Trump had touted the plan as a historic breakthrough just over a week earlier, saying Hamas agreed to disarm in phases alongside an Israeli troop withdrawal.
Hamas responded by reaffirming its commitment to the roadmap and calling on the U.S. and mediators to pressure Netanyahu, whom it accuses of stalling for political reasons ahead of Israel’s October elections.
Netanyahu said Israel is in active talks with Washington, accepting some American ideas while rejecting others, without detailing which.

Where they differ

Al Jazeera and the Guardian foreground Palestinian casualty figures (over 73,300 deaths since 2023, per Gaza’s Health Ministry) and frame Israel’s continued strikes as undermining the ceasefire, a detail largely absent from Fox News, the New York Post and CBS.
The BBC and NBC News emphasize the domestic political calculus, quoting analysts who suggest Netanyahu may be picking a fight with Trump to appear strong before elections; Fox News and the Post focus more on Netanyahu’s rhetoric of standing firm against allies.
The New York Post and NBC News highlight Netanyahu’s added vow that no Palestinian state will ever be established under his premiership, a point CBS and Fox mention only briefly or omit.
The Guardian situates the story inside a broader live-blog on Iran tensions and the Strait of Hormuz standoff, while other outlets treat the Gaza rejection as a standalone story with no Iran linkage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza plan put forward by President Trump’s Board of Peace, saying Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed. The move puts Netanyahu at odds with a plan Trump had called a “historic” and “monumental” breakthrough just over a week earlier, and comes as Netanyahu faces pressure from his right-wing coalition ahead of Israeli elections set for October.

What exactly did Netanyahu say?

At a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu declared: “Israel rejects the 15-point document.” He said 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.” He was emphatic that disarmament must be total — “heavy weapons, lighter weapons, all weapons” — calling for “real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.” He also reaffirmed a longstanding position: “As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will be established — not in Gaza and not in the West Bank.” On the plan’s fate, he said Israel is in talks with Washington: “They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us, and we know how to stand up to these things.”

What was the 15-point plan supposed to do?

The Board of Peace — a body Trump created in October, chaired by him for life and including roughly 40 countries but no Palestinian representatives — proposed the roadmap on July 30. Trump announced it as an agreement for the “complete disarmament of Hamas and all other groups in Gaza,” to be carried out in phases, with Israeli troops withdrawing from parts of Gaza as disarmament progressed. An International Stabilization Force and a new Palestinian police force would handle security, and governance would eventually shift to a new Palestinian body working with the Board of Peace. The plan initially targets Hamas’s heavy weapons, weapons depots, production sites and tunnel network. It builds on a broader 20-point plan Trump offered last fall, envisioned in three phases: ceasefire and humanitarian aid, demilitarization and reconstruction, and eventual recognition of a Palestinian state.

How has Hamas responded?

Hamas says it remains committed to the roadmap agreed with mediators and the Board of Peace in Cairo roughly 10 days earlier. Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the group’s acceptance “reflected a sense of national responsibility” and called on mediators and the U.S. to “pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap” rather than let him “obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons.” Separately, Hamas has said its own disarmament is conditional — it wants Israel to first end strikes and fully withdraw, with heavier weapons surrendered only later, tied to progress toward a Palestinian state.

Why is Netanyahu doing this now?

He’s under sustained pressure from his right-wing base and coalition partners, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has already called the draft “not acceptable” and pushed for a new cabinet vote to end the Gaza plan altogether. Israel’s October elections loom, and Netanyahu’s coalition is polling poorly. Ronni Shaked, a researcher at Hebrew University’s Truman Institute, told NBC News that Netanyahu may see political value in picking a fight with Trump, framing a tougher Hamas disarmament stance as a “victory” to show voters after three years without one — something Shaked called an “illusion.” Israel currently holds ground across more than half of Gaza, including the east and south, and some cabinet members reportedly want to expand that footprint rather than shrink it.

What happens next?

That’s unresolved. Netanyahu says talks with U.S. officials are ongoing, and he’s signaled openness to some American proposals while rejecting others, without specifying which. The White House had not issued an immediate response to his remarks as of Sunday. Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Gaza since the initial ceasefire took hold last October; Al Jazeera, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry, says more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since then, on top of over 73,300 deaths it attributes to the war overall. A Board of Peace official said Sunday the plan remains “the only way forward,” and Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent suggested Netanyahu is playing a risky game, given signs of eroding U.S. political support for Israel across both parties.

How does this fit the wider regional picture?

The rejection lands amid broader U.S.-Middle East tension, including an ongoing standoff with Iran over the closed Strait of Hormuz. Trump told Axios he is “low keying it” with Iran and that the U.S. is “only semi-negotiating” while Iran holds out for concessions. A leaked Pentagon memo reported by the Washington Post also flagged concern among U.S. military leaders about weapons stockpiles amid the Iran confrontation, even as Trump has downplayed shortages.