Israel rejects Trump’s new Gaza peace plan

What happened

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday publicly rejected President Donald Trump’s latest road map to a lasting peace in Gaza. When Trump announced the “historic agreement” two weeks ago, he said Israel was very happy with the plan. “Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks to his Cabinet, starting with the part where its military would incrementally withdraw from Gaza as Hamas disarms.

Who said what

Israeli forces “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed,” Netanyahu said, and “I mean heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, light weapons, all the weapons.” Under pressure from Trump and his Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov, Israel has “effectively halted attacks in the territory” since last Monday, Reuters said. But Netanyahu is “caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and his key military backer, Trump.” Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said he and his group “remain committed to the road map” and “expect” the U.S. and other mediators to “press Netanyahu and his government to adhere” too.

What next?

Netanyahu’s decision “risks angering Trump” by robbing him of a “major foreign-policy achievement” as he remains “embroiled in the Iran war,” The Wall Street Journal said. But the Israeli leader “also faces uphill elections in the fall,” and the “hard-right coalition partners” whose support he needs “have vociferously objected to the terms of the agreement.”

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