Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s 15-Point Gaza Plan
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a 15-point plan for Gaza, put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, saying that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed.
Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would not accept what he characterized as a merely symbolic disarmament process.
His objections center on the sequence of the proposal, which links Hamas’ disarmament to a phased Israeli withdrawal and the transfer of Gaza’s administration to a U.S.-backed Palestinian committee. Netanyahu also reaffirmed his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and insisted that Israel must retain the ability to act against threats from Gaza.
Netanyahu used his opening remarks at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting to dismiss suggestions that Israel had accepted the proposal.
"I wish to be precise here: Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said.
The prime minister said Israel would not begin the phased troop withdrawal envisioned by the plan before Hamas surrendered its entire arsenal.
"The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed," he said.
Netanyahu defined that demand broadly, saying it covered "the heavy weapons, the less-heavy weapons, all weapons." He added: "We are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament."
This position conflicts with a central mechanism of the proposal, under which Hamas’ weapons would be decommissioned and stored as Israeli forces withdrew in stages.
Netanyahu indicated that negotiations with Washington were continuing but made clear that Israel would not automatically accept proposals advanced by its closest ally.
"They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not acceptable to us," Netanyahu said, adding that Israel knew how to "stand our ground on these matters."
Netanyahu also said the Israeli military would "continue to thwart threats against our forces and against our citizens," signaling that operations in Gaza could continue while the dispute remains unresolved.
He also reiterated his opposition to Palestinian statehood, saying: "As long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria." He added: "Neither ‘Fatahstan’ nor ‘Hamastan,’" using the biblical term for the occupied West Bank and disparaging labels derived from the names of the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
The 15-point proposal was not a separate peace agreement but a road map for implementing the second phase of Trump’s broader 20-point Gaza plan. Published by Trump’s U.S.-led Board of Peace on July 30, it sought to connect Hamas’ disarmament with an Israeli withdrawal, a transfer of governing authority and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Under the proposal, Israel and Hamas would cease military operations and complete their remaining commitments under the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Within 14 days of all sides approving the road map, officials would establish a timetable and mechanisms for carrying it out.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions would surrender all civilian and security authority to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, an interim body of Palestinian technocrats backed by the Board of Peace. Hamas would be barred from interfering in the committee’s work, while the NCAG would assume responsibility for public services, government finances and internal security.
The security provisions were based on the principle of "One Authority, One Law, One Weapon." Police officers would be vetted and their weapons placed under NCAG authority. Hamas and other armed groups would gradually surrender heavy weapons, production facilities, weapons depots and tunnels, while militia members would be prohibited from joining Gaza’s new police service.
An International Verification Committee would determine whether each side had fulfilled its obligations before the process moved forward. A temporary International Stabilization Force would monitor the ceasefire, help train Palestinian police, protect aid deliveries and separate Israeli troops from areas controlled by the NCAG.
Crucially, the plan tied verified steps toward disarmament to a phased Israeli withdrawal rather than requiring one side to complete all its obligations first. Israeli forces would pull back as weapons were decommissioned, with each stage dependent on confirmation that the previous commitments had been met.
The final point called for Gaza’s reconstruction to proceed under a plan prepared and supervised by the Board of Peace and the Palestinian committee. The road map also said its implementation should create conditions for "a credible pathway" toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood—language that directly conflicts with Netanyahu’s opposition to a Palestinian state.
The proposal had received conditional backing from Hamas, which said implementation depended on Israel halting its attacks and meeting its own obligations. However, the disagreement over which steps must come first—Hamas’ disarmament or an Israeli withdrawal—remained the central obstacle.
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