The United States has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza will only begin after Hamas has been completely disarmed, following concerns raised by the Israeli government over a proposed peace framework. The assurance was conveyed on Monday by the US Board of Peace,……
The United States has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza will only begin after Hamas has been completely disarmed, following concerns raised by the Israeli government over a proposed peace framework.
The assurance was conveyed on Monday by the US Board of Peace, after members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet objected to a document released by the body that outlined a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
According to Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli government formally expressed its concerns to Washington after US President Donald Trump described Hamas’ reported agreement to surrender its weapons to a newly proposed Palestinian governing committee as a “major milestone” on Friday.
The proposed withdrawal plan had drawn criticism from within Netanyahu’s cabinet, with two ministers reportedly calling for a vote to abandon the US-backed agreement.
Meanwhile, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, met with Netanyahu on Monday in an effort to ease tensions over the proposal.
READ ALSO: Seven Killed in Israeli Strikes on Gaza
Mladenov acknowledged that the negotiations remained challenging as efforts continue to secure a lasting agreement on Gaza’s future.
But the board said it had reached a “common understanding of the shared objectives” with Israel.
Israel’s withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which demarcates the area in which Hamas still has control, “will take place only once decommissioning (of weapons) is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators”, the board said on X.
Even if Israel withdraws under the plan, it would maintain control of much of Gaza under a Trump-led October ceasefire.
– Trump-Netanyahu gap –
Israel had objected to the board’s Thursday text that called for a phased withdrawal within the territory and the immediate cessation of Israeli strikes in Gaza.
“Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s positions,” Doron Spielman, spokesman for the prime minister’s office, told AFP ahead of the Mladenov meeting.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had said that the text was “completely different” to the one presented to Netanyahu’s security cabinet and along with a colleague had demanded that the cabinet “immediately” hold a new vote on the Gaza plan.
Trump had earlier said that Israel was “very happy” about the disarmament announcement by Hamas, which triggered the war when it carried out the deadliest attack ever against Israel on October 7, 2023.
It was the latest sign of disconnect between Trump and Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election fight in October and has heavily promoted his relationship with the US leader, whom he met again in Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s spokesman said Hamas’s actions since the ceasefire have shown that it was preparing for “further October 7-style massacres”.
“The indispensable first step toward any lasting arrangement is the genuine, verifiable and irreversible demilitarisation of Hamas,” Spielman said.
– Backtracking on announcement –
Trump and Netanyahu have also been at loggerheads on Iran, with Israel sceptical of his attempts at diplomacy to end the war the two countries launched in late February.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role, offered a more upbeat take on Trump’s Gaza efforts, saying the latest development marked “a very positive step with the clear caveat and undertaking that Hamas must be disarmed”.
Mohammad Dahlan, a senior Palestinian political figure who has played a key role in the Gaza plan, said after the Board of Peace roadmap that he had spoken to Trump’s son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner who told him that Israel would end strikes in Gaza effective Sunday.
But he quickly revised his social media post, instead saying that Kushner was “working with the Israeli side to halt the attacks” in Gaza.
He later accused Netanyahu of working “to obstruct the most promising opportunity to begin ending this war”.
On Monday evening, an Israeli strike on a vehicle west of Gaza City killed two Palestinians and injured several others, according to Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for the civil defence rescue service. The Israeli military told AFP it targeted two militants in the strike.
On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed 19 Palestinians, including women and children, according to the civil defence.
Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, which are mediating the truce in Gaza, late on Monday criticised Israel after renewed strikes in the Palestinian territory.
They strongly condemned what they said were “ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip, particularly the targeting of health facilities and infrastructure, and the casualties among civilians, including women and children”.
AFP
