Israeli Leaders Reject Trump-Hamas Gaza Disarmament Deal
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump's Board of Peace announced a disarmament agreement requiring Hamas to hand over its weapons, with Israel to withdraw from Gaza and gradually transfer power to a Palestinian administration.
- Israeli politicians across the spectrum rejected the deal, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling it "unacceptable" and Netanyahu's centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot declaring any agreement short of Hamas's destruction a "total failure."
- Netanyahu faces October elections where opposition parties are leading in polls, and his best chance of avoiding jail on corruption charges depends on winning, leaving him caught between US pressure and his far-right coalition partners.
- An unnamed US official said Trump would be "very, very disappointed" if Israel didn't adhere to the agreement, contradicting Trump's public claim that Israel was "very happy" with the deal.
- Israeli public opinion remains deeply hardline: a May poll found 82% of Jewish Israeli respondents supported forcible expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, and a later poll showed 64% believed there were "no innocents" among Palestinians there.
- Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, and over 1,200 more since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, which it has repeatedly violated by expanding territory under its control.
Why it matters: Netanyahu's electoral calculus — opposition leads in polls, corruption trial looms — means backing the deal alienates his far-right coalition while rejecting it risks Trump's ire and potential election-cycle gifts like Saudi normalization. The 73,000+ Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023 have no leverage over whether withdrawal actually happens.
