Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza roadmap drafted by the US-led Board of Peace, insisting the Israeli army would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed. US President Donald Trump, responding to a journalist's question at the White House on Monday, said his relationship with Netanyahu remained 'very good' despite the dismissal. Hamas, on the same day as Netanyahu's announcement, reaffirmed its commitment to the plan and demanded guarantees on the ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, aid, and reconstruction.
Netanyahu formally rejects US-led Gaza roadmap; Trump says relationship with Israel 'very good'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza roadmap drafted by the US-led Board of Peace, insisting the Israeli army would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed. US President Donald Trump, responding to a journalist's question at the White House on Monday, said his relationship with Netanyahu remained 'very good' despite the dismissal. Hamas, on the same day as Netanyahu's announcement, reaffirmed its commitment to the plan and demanded guarantees on the ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, aid, and reconstruction.
The Board of Peace roadmap, released on July 31, calls for Israel to begin pulling back forces in tandem with disarmament by Hamas, with armed groups surrendering weapons to a new Palestinian governing body. Trump had announced what he described as a breakthrough late last month, saying Hamas and other armed groups had accepted the phased plan.
Netanyahu initially kept quiet after the blueprint was released, only later acknowledging that the Trump administration had 'sent us a draft' and that he did not agree with it. Sunday marked the first time he formally asserted his refusal to endorse the plan, according to both sources.
In his Sunday statement, Netanyahu said Israel 'will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed' and that Israel is 'talking to the Americans about this issue.' He also vowed that 'no Palestinian state will arise as long as I am prime minister.'
A Board of Peace official said on Monday that the plan remains operative. 'The roadmap is between the Board of Peace and Hamas and discussions with Israel are continuing,' the official told Reuters, adding that 'Israel is not being asked to rely on trust or to make irreversible moves before verified steps are taken on the ground.'
Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov said in an interview on Israel's Channel 12, according to Al Jazeera's weekly report, that any Israeli pullback would come incrementally from areas declared free of weapons, with international forces taking over vacated ground, and that disarmament would ultimately extend to all armed groups in Gaza, not Hamas alone.
According to Al Jazeera's weekly report, US officials cited by media outlets indicated the Israeli army has received no order to freeze preparations for the agreement's second phase, with a first base for an incoming International Stabilization Force reportedly planned to begin construction in Rafah by the end of August.
Netanyahu is facing competing pressures, according to both sources: from US allies to proceed toward the plan's second phase, and from far-right political allies who had urged him to reject the plan. Polls cited in the second source indicate the Gaza plan is unpopular with Netanyahu's right-wing base.
According to Al Jazeera's weekly report, Israeli Army Radio reported that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz had secretly approved rehabilitation work to rebuild basic infrastructure in eastern Rafah, with Palestinian labourers to be allowed onto the site after screening by Shin Bet, Israel's security agency. The project underpins what has been described as the 'Green Rafah' temporary-housing initiative.
The reported number of Palestinians killed in Gaza dropped from 47 between July 27 and August 3 to eight in the following week through August 10, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, as cited by Al Jazeera's weekly report. Nonetheless, violence continued, with Israeli forces shooting dead a Palestinian man in Deir el-Balah on Saturday, and at least five more Palestinians wounded in various incidents.
Since October's ceasefire, at least 1,258 Palestinians have been killed and 4,139 wounded, with 807 bodies recovered from rubble as of August 10, according to Gaza's Health Ministry as cited by Al Jazeera's weekly report. Since October 2023, the Ministry reports 73,386 Palestinians have been killed and 174,250 wounded.
A UN OCHA satellite assessment found that 82 percent of all structures in Gaza — more than 201,000 buildings — were damaged or destroyed as of mid-June, according to Al Jazeera's weekly report. Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 8,000 people remain missing under rubble across the Strip.
Al Jazeera's Washington correspondent Patty Culhane said Netanyahu is playing a 'very dangerous game' with Trump, and noted that Israel is growing increasingly unpopular in the US, with the Democratic Party 'very much sliding towards the Palestinian cause.'
- The White House and US Department of State had not responded to Al Jazeera's request for comment on Netanyahu's remarks at the time of publication.
- Neither source establishes what specific steps, if any, the US intends to take in response to Netanyahu's formal rejection.
- The sources do not clarify whether the Board of Peace's characterisation of the plan as 'still operative' reflects a formal US government position or is the view of a single unnamed official.
- The identity of the 'Board of Peace official' who spoke to Reuters is not disclosed.
- The sources do not establish whether Netanyahu's rejection is considered final or whether further negotiations could alter Israel's position.
- The sources do not specify what, if any, consequences Netanyahu's rejection may carry for US-Israel relations or US aid to Israel.
- The sources do not report any comment from Hamas on Netanyahu's Sunday statement beyond its earlier reaffirmation of commitment to the plan.
- Al Jazeera English — original — by Al Jazeera Staff
- Al Jazeera English — by Al Jazeera Staff
Read the original at Al Jazeera English