US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would begin only after Hamas had been fully disarmed, addressing objections raised by the Israeli leader.
The message came after two members of Mr Netanyahu’s security cabinet called for a vote to abandon the agreement backed by Mr Trump. Their demand followed the board’s publication of a framework saying Israel would carry out a phased withdrawal from Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said it had conveyed its concerns to Washington after Mr Trump on Friday described Hamas’s agreement to surrender its weapons to an emerging Palestinian governing committee as a “major milestone”.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, met Mr Netanyahu today and acknowledged that the discussions involved difficult work.
The board said on X that Israel’s withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line — the boundary marking territory where Hamas retains control — “will take place only once decommissioning (of weapons) is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators”.
Even under the proposed arrangement, Israel would retain control over large parts of Gaza following the October ceasefire led by Mr Trump.
Read more:Hamas has moved toward disarming – now it’s up to Israel
Trump-Netanyahu gap
Donald Trump (R) hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week
Israel objected last Thursday to a board document calling for a phased withdrawal from Gaza and an immediate end to Israeli strikes in the territory.
“Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s positions,” Doron Spielman, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, said before the Mladenov meeting.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the published text was “completely different” from the version shown to Mr Netanyahu’s security cabinet. Together with another cabinet member, he called for an “immediate” new vote on the Gaza agreement.
Despite Israel’s resistance, no fresh strikes were reported in Gaza today. Israel did, however, launch attacks shortly after Mr Trump’s announcement.
Mr Trump had earlier said Israel was “very happy” with Hamas’s disarmament announcement. Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggered the war and was the deadliest assault in the country’s history.
The dispute was the latest indication of a widening gap between Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister faces a difficult re-election contest in October and has made his close relationship with the US president a central part of his political message. The two men met again in Washington last week.
Mr Netanyahu’s spokesman said Hamas’s conduct since the ceasefire showed it was preparing for “further October 7-style massacres”.
“The indispensable first step toward any lasting arrangement is the genuine, verifiable and irreversible demilitarisation of Hamas,” Mr Spielman said.
The two leaders have also clashed over Iran, as Israel remains sceptical of Mr Trump’s diplomatic efforts to end the war launched by the two countries in late February.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, offered a more optimistic assessment of Mr Trump’s Gaza initiative. He called the latest development “a very positive step”, while stressing that Hamas must be disarmed.
Mohammad Dahlan, a senior Palestinian political figure who has been closely involved in shaping the Gaza plan, said after the Board of Peace released its roadmap that he had spoken with Mr Trump’s son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner. Mr Kushner, he said, told him Israel would halt its strikes in Gaza, effective yesterday.
Mr Dahlan soon amended the social media post, saying instead that Mr Kushner was “working with the Israeli side to halt the attacks” in Gaza.
He later accused Mr Netanyahu of acting “to obstruct the most promising opportunity to begin ending this war”.
No major strikes were reported today, although a security official in Gaza said Israeli attacks had killed 19 Palestinians, including women and children, yesterday.
