Netanyahu rejects US Gaza plan, vows no pullout until Hamas disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a Gaza plan endorsed by US President Donald Trump, vowing no military pullout until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed. The rejection followed more than a week of escalating criticism from Netanyahu as he faced pushback from his right-wing base ahead of elections.

Why won't Israel withdraw from Gaza?

Netanyahu said Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza plan, which Hamas had endorsed in late July. He said Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will keep acting to thwart threats against Israeli troops and citizens. Netanyahu framed the demand as requiring real disarmament, not a symbolic one.

The plan marks the latest stage of a US-led ceasefire announced in October that has reduced, but not ended, Israeli operations in Gaza. Under its terms, Hamas would surrender its weapons to a newly formed Palestinian governing body, while Israel would begin withdrawing forces in tandem with that disarmament. Israel has firmly rejected this sequencing and insists Hamas must destroy its weapons first.

What has Trump's Board of Peace said about withdrawal?

After meeting Netanyahu last week, the Board of Peace, the US body overseeing the deal's implementation, shifted its position and said Israel would only need to withdraw once Hamas had "completely" disarmed. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is currently locked in a tight re-election race, according to polls, and has faced pressure from far-right allies to hold a new cabinet vote and abandon the Gaza plan altogether.

Netanyahu said Israel remains in talks with the United States over its objections. He said some US ideas are acceptable to Israel while others are not, adding that Israel knows how to hold its position on these issues. He reiterated that Hamas must give up all its weapons, a target Board of Peace members have called unrealistic to achieve.