Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks throughout a press convention in Jerusalem on March 19, 2026.
Ronen Zvulun | Afp | Getty Photographs
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s newest Gaza plan in televised remarks to his right-wing authorities on Sunday, at the same time as Israel’s navy has successfully halted assaults within the territory below strain from Trump.
Netanyahu is struggling within the polls as he seeks re-election at a vote due on Oct. 27 however is caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and his key navy backer, Trump, who desires progress towards ending the battle there with a brand new 15-point roadmap.
Israel has scaled again assaults in Gaza since Monday, when Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, met with Netanyahu.
A supply acquainted with Israel’s place stated it had agreed that the navy would solely act towards what it perceives as rapid threats in Gaza and now not perform focused assassinations because it had been doing on a near-daily foundation.
Mladenov stated on Sunday that discussions on the brand new roadmap have been ongoing.
Israel and Hamas disagree over timing in Trump’s plan
Trump introduced final month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to finish the battle, to which each Israel and Hamas agreed, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an Worldwide Stabilization Pressure working with a brand new Palestinian police power to safe the enclave.
However issues have swiftly emerged with questions over the plan’s timeline. “Israel doesn’t settle for the 15-point doc,” Netanyahu stated at first of a gathering with cupboard ministers. The navy “won’t perform any withdrawal till Hamas is disarmed … it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry.”
Netanyahu made related remarks in a social media put up on Tuesday, and Israeli officers have stated reservations have been shared with Washington.
He added that Israel was in talks with the USA on the plan. “They (the U.S.) have concepts, a few of that are acceptable to us and a few of that are unacceptable to us , and we all know learn how to stand agency towards this stuff,” Netanyahu stated.
In an interview with Israeli N12 Information, Mladenov stated Israel can be required to withdraw “sector by sector” as soon as weapons have been taken from Hamas and rendered unusable.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, informed Reuters on Sunday that the group remained dedicated to the roadmap agreed in Cairo 10 days in the past.
“We anticipate the mediators and the U.S. guarantor to press Netanyahu and his authorities to stick to the roadmap and never hinder the method for inner political and electoral causes,” he stated.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu. “We went to battle with a central purpose: the destruction of Hamas,” he stated in a assertion. “The (navy) can’t withdraw even a millimeter from the Gaza Strip.”
Trump stated final month that Iran-backed Hamas, which dominated Gaza for almost 20 years earlier than finishing up the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel that triggered the Gaza battle, had agreed to put down its weapons.
Hamas avoids using the time period “disarmament” and stated the group agreed at hand over weapons to be saved below a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocrat administration that might run the affairs in Gaza below the supervision of Trump’s Board of Peace.
Hamas stated it agreed to the plan to avoida resumption of battle, nevertheless it added that the implementation of the deal would rely upon Israel first assembly its personal commitments, together with withdrawal and halting assaults.
Israel had vowed to search out militants who had taken half within the October 2023 assault earlier than halting the focused assaults on Monday.
For the reason that U.S.-mediated ceasefire reached in October 2025, greater than 1,250 folks have been killed within the Israeli assaults, most of them civilians, in accordance with Gaza well being officers. Hamas has not disclosed the variety of its fighters killed. 4 Israeli troopers have been killed throughout this time in Gaza.
Israeli troops have occupied and depopulated two-thirds of the enclave, leaving almost all its greater than 2 million residents confined to a tiny strip of land below Hamas management alongside the coast, most in makeshift tents or broken buildings.
