Netanyahu announces Israel ‘didn’t agree’ to Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Hamas

In his first public comments on the matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has not agreed to the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan, which was accepted by Hamas last week.

Reiterating comments in recent days attributed to “senior Israeli officials,” Netanyahu says in a video posted to Facebook that Israel will not withdraw “from our current lines” in Gaza “until Hamas is completely disarmed.”

This would appear to go against the disarmament plan, which requires Israel to pull back to the original Yellow Line in Gaza. Israel withdrew to that line as part of the October 2025 ceasefire-hostage release deal with Hamas, but has since expanded its control of the Strip from 53 percent to over 60%.

While the Board of Peace indicated that Israel would not have to carry out withdrawals beyond the original Yellow Line until Hamas at least begins to hand over its weapons, Netanyahu asserts that Israeli forces will not move at all, as his election campaign kicks into gear.

“President Trump thinks — or his team thinks — that they can get Hamas to disarm and demilitarize Gaza. We are looking into it. They sent us a draft. We did not agree to it. It was not our draft. We sent back our comments,” Netanyahu says in the video statement.

The “draft” Netanyahu describes isn’t supposed to be open for debate with Israel, as it was the result of separate negotiations with Hamas. A senior US official briefing reporters last week said that the disarmament proposal is an extension of Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, which Israel already accepted last fall. Accordingly, Israel is only being asked to maintain its adherence to the 20-point plan, the US official said.

But with Israel opposing the Hamas disarmament proposal, the Board of Peace indicated Monday that it may reopen the terms of the deal for deliberation, issuing a statement that suggested it was changing the terms of the Israeli withdrawal in Jerusalem’s favor after the US-led panel’s top envoys held a meeting with Netanyahu.

Acquiescing to Israeli demands for amendments, however, risks losing Hamas’s backing for the proposal, which took months to secure.

The disarmament proposal also requires Israel to immediately halt all military operations in Gaza once the plan takes effect. While Israel has pushed back on this condition, it did reportedly agree to tighten the rules of engagement in Gaza, requiring the approval of the IDF chief of staff before any single strike can go ahead.

Netanyahu does not deny that policy change, but insists, “we are instructing IDF soldiers to do whatever is necessary to defend themselves, defend our territory and defend people.”