On Sunday, August 9th, 2026, Israel officially rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point Gaza Peace Plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Israeli military would not withdraw from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed.

Netanyahu emphasized in a Cabinet meeting, “I have heard people saying, ‘You didn’t say that.’ So here I am saying it again.” He clarified that disarmament means all weapons, both heavy and light, stressing, “We are talking about genuine disarmament, not a fictitious one.”

Trump, who last month announced a breakthrough in his Gaza peace plan, claimed that Hamas had agreed to lay down arms. The US Board of Peace’s proposal called for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza alongside Hamas’s disarmament.

However, Netanyahu rejected this phased approach, insisting that Israeli forces would remain until Hamas is fully disarmed. He also declared that the Israeli army would continue “to thwart threats against our forces and citizens.”

Additionally, Netanyahu stated there would be no Palestinian state in Gaza or the West Bank as long as he leads Israel.

Sources