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Israel maintains Hamas must fully disarm before any IDF withdrawal from Gaza
Netanyahu: 'When I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament'
The Israeli government has made the complete disarmament of Hamas a key precondition of its withdrawal from parts of Gaza while the terrorist group is insisting on such a withdrawal being carried out prior to its weapons being decommissioned, casting doubt on the potential success of a 15-point peace plan proposed by Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
Last week, Trump claimed that Hamas had agreed to “complete disarmament”; though a senior Hamas official subsequently made it clear that any move towards relinquishing weapons would only come after Israel fulfilled the commitments expected of it under the US plan.
Yesterday, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Israel does not accept the 15-point document”, specifically referencing the fact that “The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament. Right now, we are talking with the Americans about this issue.”
Under the plan, Hamas would be able to retain some weaponry until various stages in the overall process are complete. Israel is due to hold elections in late October, leading to speculation that Netanyahu is unwilling to agree to anything prior which could be presented as an Israeli defeat.
The relationship between Trump and Netanyahu has reportedly become increasingly strained in the last six months, with reports of phone calls in which the US President has told the Israeli Prime Minister that he is the only international ally Israel retains.
On Friday, Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, described how “it took months of very difficult negotiations” to get to the development of the proposal, going on to say that “There were several points when I did not believe we would make it.
“What the agreement says matters. What happens next matters even more. Implementation and verification have to be real. Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”
He went on to say that the disarmament of Hamas and other groups in Gaza would be “gradual, sequential and time-bound” and would be “linked to an Israeli withdrawal, in phases, from the areas under its control in Gaza”.
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