'No troop pullout until Hamas disarms': Netanyahu rejects Trump's Gaza blueprint
Beyond the conflict in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister used the cabinet meeting to reiterate a hardline stance on Tehran, pledging to block Iranian nuclear ambitions regardless of diplomatic negotiations involving Washington and Arab nations.
- Aug 9, 2026,
- Updated Aug 9, 2026 8:14 PM IST
Israel has formally rejected a US-endorsed 15-point Gaza plan, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas is completely stripped of its weapons.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu firmly pushed back against the blueprint hailed by US President Donald Trump, which had been endorsed by Hamas in late July. The document, part of a US-led ceasefire framework announced in October, proposed that Hamas surrender its arsenal to a nascent Palestinian governing body while Israeli forces initiated a phased pullback.
Netanyahu made it clear that Israel will not accept a partial handover, demanding instead that Hamas destroy its weapons entirely. "Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens," he added.
Members of the Board of Peace have suggested that total weapon destruction is not realistically achievable, but Netanyahu insisted that Israel would not settle for symbolic gestures. "We are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament," Netanyahu said.
Addressing the friction with Washington, Netanyahu noted that discussions with US officials remain ongoing, though Israel intends to hold its ground.
"They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters," he said.
Beyond the conflict in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister used the cabinet meeting to reiterate a hardline stance on Tehran, pledging to block Iranian nuclear ambitions regardless of diplomatic negotiations involving Washington and Arab nations. Both the US and Israel have cited stopping a nuclear-armed Iran as a core objective of their military operations, though Iran maintains its nuclear program is strictly peaceful.
"I want to emphasise once again: with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.
Israel has formally rejected a US-endorsed 15-point Gaza plan, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas is completely stripped of its weapons.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu firmly pushed back against the blueprint hailed by US President Donald Trump, which had been endorsed by Hamas in late July. The document, part of a US-led ceasefire framework announced in October, proposed that Hamas surrender its arsenal to a nascent Palestinian governing body while Israeli forces initiated a phased pullback.
Netanyahu made it clear that Israel will not accept a partial handover, demanding instead that Hamas destroy its weapons entirely. "Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens," he added.
Members of the Board of Peace have suggested that total weapon destruction is not realistically achievable, but Netanyahu insisted that Israel would not settle for symbolic gestures. "We are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament," Netanyahu said.
Addressing the friction with Washington, Netanyahu noted that discussions with US officials remain ongoing, though Israel intends to hold its ground.
"They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters," he said.
Beyond the conflict in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister used the cabinet meeting to reiterate a hardline stance on Tehran, pledging to block Iranian nuclear ambitions regardless of diplomatic negotiations involving Washington and Arab nations. Both the US and Israel have cited stopping a nuclear-armed Iran as a core objective of their military operations, though Iran maintains its nuclear program is strictly peaceful.
"I want to emphasise once again: with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.