Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that Israel has not agreed to the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan for Gaza, which Hamas accepted last week. Speaking in a video statement, Netanyahu insisted that Israeli forces will not withdraw from their current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed.
Netanyahu Rejects Plan for IDF Withdrawal to Yellow Line
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against international pressure on Tuesday, releasing a video statement on Facebook to clarify that Jerusalem has rejected the core terms of a Gaza disarmament proposal negotiated by outside mediators and accepted by Hamas. The framework, spearheaded by the Trump-controlled Board of Peace, aims to achieve complete disarmament of armed groups in the Gaza Strip alongside a phased pullback of Israeli military forces.
Under the terms of the proposal, Israeli troops would be required to withdraw back to the original Yellow Line established during the October 2025 ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. While Israel initially pulled back to that demarcation line last year—retaining control over approximately 53 percent of the Gaza Strip—military operations since then have expanded the footprint of the Israel Defense Forces to cover more than 60 percent of the territory.
Netanyahu made it clear that those current positions will hold firm despite the diplomatic push. We will not withdraw from our current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed,
Netanyahu stated.
“President Trump thinks, or his team thinks, that they can get Hamas to disarm and demilitarize Gaza. We are looking into it. They sent us a draft. We did not agree to it. It was not our draft. We sent back our comments.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, via Times of Israel
The draft in question bypassed direct bilateral drafting with Jerusalem, emerging instead from separate negotiations involving Hamas, mediating countries including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the US, and the Board of Peace. Senior U.S. officials briefing reporters maintained that the proposal serves as an extension of Donald Trump’s pre-existing 20-point plan for ending the conflict, warning that Trump would be very disappointed
in Jerusalem if Israel blocked its advancement.
Friction in Jerusalem Over the Board of Peace Roadmap
The rejection of the disarmament framework runs parallel to intense internal political friction within Israel’s governing coalition. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strook dispatched an urgent letter to Netanyahu demanding an immediate Cabinet session to halt the implementation of the Board of Peace roadmap and block the entry of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) into Gaza.
According to reports from mako.co.il, the ministers asserted that the Cabinet approved measures based on flawed information, arguing that the actual text of the roadmap diverges sharply from assurances given to government officials. Smotrich and Strook pointed out that the document does not mandate the physical removal or destruction of all weaponry—including light arms, heavy arms, and tunnel manufacturing facilities—from the Strip. Instead, the framework envisions transferring weapons control to a newly formed Arab body rather than handing them over to Israel or non-Palestinian entities.
Furthermore, the ministers cautioned that the agreement sets up an international verification committee pairing the Board of Peace, the ISF, and participating Arab nations while implementing Palestinian Authority legal frameworks within Gaza. Those concerns prompted top envoys from the Board of Peace—including Nicolay Mladenov and advisor Ari Lightstone—to travel to Jerusalem for a tense Monday meeting with the prime minister in an attempt to secure compliance.
White House Perspective and the Broader Diplomatic Landscape
While Jerusalem resists the withdrawal timeline, the White House and Board of Peace representatives maintain that the agreement represents a historic breakthrough. Senior officials in Washington and within the Board of Peace outlined the arduous nature of the months-long indirect negotiations with Hamas, noting that planners deliberately built the framework on a foundation of absolute zero trust paired with rigorous verification mechanisms to cut off direct funding streams to the militant group.
As detailed by news.walla.co.il, regional stakeholders including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates contributed regional perspectives to the architecture of the deal. The initiative includes parallel efforts led by figures such as Tony Blair to design an economic and administrative alternative for Gaza, complete with international funding, the deployment of the ISF, and the training of local Palestinian security forces.
Yet, bridging the gap between Washington’s blueprint and Israel’s security demands remains an open challenge. While the Board of Peace has signaled a willingness to deliberate on potential adjustments to the Israeli withdrawal terms to appease Jerusalem, doing so risks alienating Hamas after months of painstaking mediation. With Netanyahu’s election campaign kicking into gear and coalition ministers pressing for stricter enforcement of Gaza’s complete demilitarization, the future of the international roadmap hangs in the balance.
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