Israel to keep forces in Gaza until Hamas disarms, Netanyahu says

Israel has rejected the latest US plan aimed at moving towards the next stage of a peace process in Gaza, insisting that Hamas must be fully disarmed before any Israeli forces withdraw from the enclave, CNN reports.

“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting on August 9.

He stressed that the Israeli military would “not withdraw at all until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens.”

“And when I say disarm Hamas, that means heavy weapons, less-heavy weapons, all weapons. And we are talking about real disarmament, not a fictitious disarmament,” Netanyahu said. “We are now discussing this with the Americans. They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand up to those things.”

“As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will be established — not in Gaza and not in the West Bank,” the PM added.

At the end of July, US President Donald Trump announced what he described as a historic agreement aimed at securing the disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, months after he first announced a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas, in turn, said it would only agree to the deal if Israel halted strikes on Gaza and withdrew its troops to the “yellow line,” as defined by the October ceasefire agreement.

By Jeyhun Aghazada