Israel tensions Mount as Netanyahu Rejects Trump's 15-Point Gaza Plan
Reporting based primarily on koreaherald.com.
Amid Israel tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point roadmap for Gaza, stating that Israel will not withdraw troops until Hamas fully disarms. [1] Netanyahu restated his rejection in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday while struggling in polls ahead of an Oct. 27 election. [1]
Netanyahu Rejects Trump's Gaza Roadmap
Netanyahu restated his rejection in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday. [1] "Israel does not accept the 15-point document," Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with cabinet ministers. [1] The military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed ... it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry," he added. [1] Netanyahu made similar remarks in a social media post Tuesday and Israeli officials have said reservations have been shared with Washington. [1] He added that Israel was in talks with the US on the plan. [1] "They (the US) have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us and we know how to stand firm against these things," Netanyahu said. [1] Israel has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point plan for Gaza and will not withdraw until Hamas fully disarms, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. [4]
Scaled-Back Military Operations
Israel has scaled back attacks in Gaza since Aug. 3, when Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for Trump's Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, met with Netanyahu. [1] A source familiar with Israel's position said it had agreed that the military would only act against what it perceives as immediate threats in Gaza and no longer carry out targeted assassinations as it had been doing on a near-daily basis. [1] Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes on Gaza since agreeing to the ceasefire last October. [4] Since the US-mediated ceasefire reached in October 2025, more than 1,250 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials. [1] Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in this time in Gaza. [1] Israel had vowed to hunt down militants who had taken part in the October 2023 attack before halting the targeted attacks on Monday. [1]
Key Elements of the 15-Point Plan
Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war, to which both Israel and Hamas agreed, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an International Stabilization Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave. [1] The Board of Peace, spearheaded by Trump, announced last month that it had made a breakthrough in a plan to end the war. [4] Israel and Hamas agreed to the plan last year, beginning with a ceasefire. [4] In an interview with Israeli N12 News, Mladenov said Israel would be required to withdraw "sector by sector" once weapons have been taken from Hamas and rendered unusable. [1] Trump said last month that Iran-backed Hamas, which ruled Gaza for nearly two decades before carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, had agreed to lay down its weapons. [1]
Hamas Position and Commitments
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters on Sunday that the group remained committed to the roadmap agreed in Cairo 10 days ago. [1] "We expect the mediators and the US guarantor to press Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons," he said. [1] Hamas avoids the use of the term "disarmament" and said the group agreed to hand over weapons to be stored under a US-backed Palestinian technocrat administration that would run the affairs in Gaza under the supervision of Trump's Board of Peace. [1] Hamas said it agreed to the plan to avoid a resumption of war, but it added that the implementation of the deal would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal and halting attacks. [1] Israeli troops have occupied and depopulated two-thirds of the enclave, leaving nearly all its more than 2 million residents confined to a tiny strip of land under Hamas control along the coast, most in makeshift tents or damaged buildings. [1]
Domestic Political Pressures in Israel
Netanyahu is struggling in the polls as he seeks reelection at a vote due on Oct. 27 but is caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and his key military backer, Trump, who wants progress toward ending the conflict there with a new 15-point roadmap. [1] Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu. [1] "We went to war with a central goal: the destruction of Hamas," he said in a statement. [1] "The (military) cannot withdraw even a millimetre from the Gaza Strip." [1]
Ongoing US-Israel Discussions
Mladenov said Sunday that discussions on the new roadmap were ongoing. [1] Netanyahu added that Israel was in talks with the US on the plan. [1] Israeli officials have said reservations have been shared with Washington. [1]
What to watch next: Talks on the new roadmap continue with Washington, and Mladenov has indicated that Israel would withdraw sector by sector once weapons have been taken from Hamas.
