Israel Won't Withdraw From Gaza Until Hamas Disarmed
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- Netanyahu's office, via spokesman Doron Spielman, told the AP it conveyed 'serious security concerns' over Trump's Board of Peace disarmament deal directly to the White House after the agreement was announced.
- Spielman said Israel will not withdraw the IDF from Gaza before disarmament, warning that an early redeployment would let Hamas 'quickly expand,' rebuild its terror infrastructure, and attempt another Oct. 7-style attack.
- Trump on Thursday announced the 'historic' deal, which requires Hamas-run police to surrender weapons in phases to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a U.S.-backed technocratic body, as the IDF — which currently controls 60% of Gaza — withdraws.
- Trump told a Friday Cabinet meeting Israel was 'very happy' with the agreement, a characterization undercut by Israeli National Security Adviser Itamar Ben-Gvir's X post that 'targeted killings in Gaza must continue.'
- Israel is pushing to exclude Qatar and Turkey from verification of the deal, require all surrendered Hamas weaponry to be destroyed, and retain freedom to continue military operations in Gaza.
- Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed Hamas 'agreed to the roadmap' but accused Israel of sabotaging it with strikes that killed 17 people, including children, amid a ceasefire in place since last October.
- Israeli officials told the AP the IDF will not withdraw from the 'yellow line' zone of depopulated areas; Netanyahu himself has not publicly commented on Trump's 20-point plan.
Why it matters: The public Israeli objections expose a wide gap between Trump's claim of Israeli buy-in and the reality that Jerusalem is resisting core elements of the framework — including continued military operations and exclusion of Qatar/Turkey from verification. Without Israeli cooperation on the phased disarmament and IDF pullback, the entire Gaza reconstruction plan under the Board of Peace stalls, leaving the Oct. 2025 ceasefire fragile and the White House holding a deal its supposed partner won't implement.
