Netanyahu says Israel rejects US-backed Gaza peace plan

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel rejects a 15-point Gaza peace roadmap plan presented by the US-led "Board of Peace," maintaining that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed.

The announcement marks Israel's first official and straightforward rejection of the plan.

Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting that Israeli forces, which Israeli officials had previously estimated control about 70 percent of Gaza, will continue to carry out attacks in the enclave to "thwart threats."

"When I say disarming Hamas, I mean the heavy weapons, the less heavy weapons -- all weapons," Netanyahu said.

Israel is still in talks with the United States about the document of the plan, he said. "They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters."

The plan was drafted in May by Nickolay Mladenov, "high representative for Gaza" of the "Board of Peace," and officially announced by US President Donald Trump in late July, who said back then the board had reached an agreement on the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

A day after Trump's announcement, Hamas said it had agreed to the "latest version of the roadmap" for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement after "fierce" negotiations, but conditioned weaponry arrangements on a complete halt to "aggression," Israeli withdrawal from the enclave, and progress on reconstruction.

Since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,250 people and injured over 4,100 others in Gaza, according to Gaza-based health authorities.