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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a United States-backed plan for Gaza, insisting that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel opposed the 15-point proposal endorsed by Hamas and would continue military operations until the group no longer posed a threat.
He said Israel would not accept any arrangement that allowed Hamas to retain its weapons, stressing that the group must surrender its entire arsenal before an Israeli military withdrawal could take place.
“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,” Netanyahu said.
The plan, backed by US President Donald Trump, forms part of a broader ceasefire framework announced in October that has reduced but not ended Israeli operations in Gaza.
Under the proposal, Hamas would hand over its weapons to an emerging Palestinian governing body, while Israel would withdraw its forces as the disarmament process progressed.
Israel has rejected that sequence, arguing that Hamas must first be completely disarmed and its weapons destroyed.
Netanyahu said Israel was discussing its objections with Washington, adding that some US proposals were acceptable while others were not.
“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,” he said.
He maintained that Israel would stand firm on issues it considered essential to its security.
The Israeli prime minister also rejected suggestions that the disarmament requirement could be symbolic, insisting that Hamas must be genuinely stripped of its weapons.
Netanyahu has faced growing pressure from far-right allies who oppose the Gaza plan and have called for further action against Hamas.
The dispute also comes as Netanyahu faces a closely contested political race ahead of elections, with his right-wing base pressing him to take a harder line on the Gaza conflict.
Members of the US-led Board of Peace, which is overseeing implementation of the plan, recently said Israel would only be required to withdraw after Hamas had achieved complete disarmament.
However, Netanyahu maintained that Israel would not accept what he described as a token or incomplete disarmament process.
“We are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,” Netanyahu said.
