The Israeli government has rejected a 15-point plan backed by the Trump administration aimed at disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
It appeared to be an unusually public break with President Trump, whose relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has had a dizzying and often unpredictable arc. The two leaders launched the war against Iran together in late February. But they have since clashed over how to end it, as well as over the future of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
Mr. Trump announced the agreement between his Board of Peace and Hamas late last month, lauding it as a major breakthrough. Mr. Netanyahu’s office had initially expressed reservations, saying that the framework did “not reflect Israel’s positions,” but stopped short of outright rejecting it.
The U.S.-backed proposal envisions a phased process in which Hamas would hand over its weapons in stages to a new Palestinian administration in Gaza. In exchange, Israel would gradually withdraw from the more than half of Gaza that it has controlled since the cease-fire last October.
On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu openly dismissed the plan, saying that Israeli forces “would not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.” He said that meant “heavy weapons, lighter weapons, all weapons,” adding, “We are talking about real disarmament.”
At a cabinet meeting of government ministers, Mr. Netanyahu said, “I want to be clear here: Israel is ruling out the 15-point document.”
A spokesman for the Board of Peace did not immediately comment on Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli prime minister — who faces a tough re-election campaign this fall — promised “absolute victory” over Hamas after the group led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war in Gaza. But nearly three years later, Hamas still controls parts of the territory that it has dominated for nearly two decades.
Hamas has publicly accepted the U.S.-backed agreement. But Israeli analysts are skeptical that the Palestinian militants actually intend to follow through on handing over weapons to a new Palestinian administration in Gaza, as armed struggle against Israel is one of the group’s core precepts.
The deal followed months of delicate talks between Hamas’s leaders in exile and officials from Mr. Trump’s Board of Peace, a new body established to oversee the Gaza cease-fire. The board includes heads of state, including Mr. Netanyahu, and is chaired by Mr. Trump.
In practice, however, a small number of Trump appointees led the negotiations, including Nickolay Mladenov, a former United Nations Mideast envoy. The U.S.-backed negotiators sought to find a formula that would relieve Hamas of its weapons but that the militant group would still accept.
According to the text of the accord, Israel would first have to fulfill several outstanding conditions from the initial cease-fire with Hamas last October which ended the two-year war in Gaza, including a “cessation of military operations.”
Despite the cease-fire, Israel has continued attacking on a near-daily basis in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,000 people since last October, according to Palestinian health officials. Those killed have included senior Hamas officials, but also civilians, including children.
Israeli bombardment intensified the weekend after the deal was concluded, with more than 18 people killed, Gaza health officials said.
But those attacks largely ceased after Mr. Mladenov met with Mr. Netanyahu last Monday. Mr. Mladenov had criticized the strikes, which he said had “killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on.”
Under the Trump plan, an international committee was supposed to verify Israel’s compliance with the cease-fire reached last October. Hamas would then “decommission and store” heavy weapons as part of a process overseen by a group of U.S.-backed Palestinian technocrats.
Israel would gradually withdraw from Gaza, and Palestinian militias armed by Israel to fight Hamas would similarly give up their weapons.
The timeline, along with other details, has yet to be negotiated. The 15-point agreement specifies that they are meant to be concluded within 14 days, which would be later this week. It is unclear whether that can be realized given the doubts hanging over the deal.
Adam Rasgon and Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
