Netanyahu Rejects Trump-Backed Hamas Disarmament Plan

No weapons, no withdrawal, and no Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid down those red lines Sunday as he rejected a Trump administration-backed plan that would gradually disarm Hamas and remove Israeli forces from Gaza.

Netanyahu told his Cabinet that Israel does not accept the 15-point proposal released last month by the Trump-established Board of Peace, although he said Israeli and American officials remain in discussions about some of its provisions.

His central objection focused on whether Hamas would actually surrender its entire arsenal.

“When I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry,” Netanyahu said. “And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.”

Netanyahu insisted that Israeli troops will remain in Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed, placing him at odds with the sequencing envisioned by the Trump-backed agreement.

President Trump announced in July that Hamas and the Board of Peace had reached a deal that could lead to the Iran-backed group’s disarmament in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal.

Under the 15-point framework, Hamas would surrender its weapons in phases while transferring political control of Gaza to a new Palestinian governing body established by the Board of Peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel’s opposition to a US-backed 15-point Gaza plan, saying that Hamas must dismantle all weapons before any withdrawal https://t.co/d7Z7BINVZ1 pic.twitter.com/w40FqT8jSQ

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 9, 2026

Netanyahu’s remarks cast doubt on whether Israel will participate under those terms.

Israeli officials had remained largely silent about the agreement since Trump announced it last month. Netanyahu’s public rejection now exposes a major divide over how disarmament would be verified and when Israeli troops would be expected to leave.

Israel has previously resisted demands from humanitarian organizations and international bodies to withdraw from Gaza without security guarantees.

Netanyahu also renewed his opposition to creating a Palestinian state, signaling that even a successful Hamas disarmament process would not automatically advance the broader political outcome sought by Palestinian leaders and many foreign governments.

“As for the Gaza Strip, first of all, I want to make the main point clear: as long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria. Neither ‘Fatahstan’ nor ‘Hamastan,’” he said, according to the Jerusalem Post.

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— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 9, 2026