From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Netanyahu vows Hamas will be disarmed, reiterates opposition to Palestinian statehood
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Amid reports that the US is considering moving ahead with rebuilding parts of Gaza before a plan is in place to disarm Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises that the terror group will be disarmed.
Addressing the “so-called non-demilitarization” of the Hamas-controlled parts of Gaza, Netanyahu says at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that “there will be no such thing.”
“In the 20-point plan, and in any other case,” he says, “this area will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed — either the easy way or the hard way. That is what I have said, and that is what President Trump has also said.”
Netanyahu’s comments come a day before the United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution backing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. The resolution would also endorse the creation of a “credible pathway” toward a Palestinian state.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state anywhere west of the Jordan River exists, is firm, and has not changed whatsoever,” Netanyahu says. “I have been pushing back against these attempts for decades, and I do so against external pressure and internal pressure as well. I don’t need reinforcement, tweets, or lectures from anyone.”
Two of Netanyahu’s far-right allies called on him last night to make a clear public statement that Israel will never accept the establishment of a Palestinian state, following the release of a US-organized joint statement by several nations asserting that Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war offers a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
The Times of Israel Community.