Netanyahu Blocks U.S. Gaza Roadmap Over Hamas Weapons Demand

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown out U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest 15-point plan for Gaza, drawing a hard line: no Israeli military withdrawal until Hamas is fully and “genuinely” disarmed.

The rejection, delivered at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, undercuts a push by Trump’s Board of Peace and deepens a familiar deadlock. Hamas says it will only hand over heavy weapons if Israel stops all attacks and pulls its forces out. Israel says disarmament must come first—and it has to be real, not symbolic.

What Netanyahu said

“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu told ministers. The Israeli military, he added, “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens.”

He stressed that he would not accept a “fictitious disarmament.” In public remarks tied to the same stance, he has framed disarmament as covering heavy, lighter, and light weapons alike—not a partial hand-in.

Netanyahu also said Israel is talking with U.S. officials about next steps. “They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,” he said.

What the 15-point plan aimed to do

Trump’s broader Gaza framework—first laid out in September last year—centers on several pillars:

• A Board of Peace to oversee implementation

• Disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza

• Withdrawal of Israeli troops

• Reconstruction of the devastated territory

• A path toward new governance arrangements for Gaza

Last month, the Board of Peace said it had reached an understanding on the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed factions. About a week before Netanyahu’s Sunday statement, Trump called Hamas’s reported willingness to disarm a “monumental step toward lasting peace and security”—on the condition that Israel withdraws from Gaza.

That sequencing is exactly where the deal cracked.

Hamas’s response

A Hamas official told the BBC on Sunday that the group “reaffirms its commitment” to the agreement and is ready “to engage seriously and responsibly in implementing” the 15-point plan. The official urged mediators to make sure “all parties comply with what has been agreed.”

Hamas’s long-standing condition remains unchanged in substance: heavy weapons would be surrendered only if Israel ends “all forms of aggression” and leaves Gaza. That is the mirror image of Israel’s demand—and the reason phased formulas keep collapsing into arguments over who moves first.

Why Netanyahu held the line

The rejection was widely expected in Jerusalem, even if the timing took a few days. Netanyahu is walking a narrow path: he does not like key parts of Trump’s draft, but he also cannot lightly alienate Israel’s closest ally.

Domestic politics harden that stance. Israeli elections are only months away. Far-right partners in his coalition want toughness on Gaza, not concessions. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has already branded the draft “not acceptable,” and some coalition voices have pushed for a fresh cabinet vote to kill the Gaza plan outright.

In that climate, any early pullback before verified disarmament would be a political risk Netanyahu shows little interest in taking.

The wider context

An initial ceasefire took hold in Gaza last October, but violence never fully stopped. Israel has continued strikes. Both sides accuse the other of breaches. Diplomats and analysts have long argued that any workable path would need phased disarmament and withdrawal, with verification built in—not a single leap of trust.

The human cost of the wider war remains staggering:

Mass funerals and ruined neighborhoods still define daily life in much of the Strip. Reconstruction talk means little on the ground while the security sequence stays blocked.

What happens next

Netanyahu’s no does not end U.S.–Israel contact. It does force Trump’s team back to the table with a plan Israel will actually own—or with pressure tools strong enough to move a coalition that sees early withdrawal as a security and electoral trap.

For now, the core dispute is simple and stubborn:

1. Israel: Full, genuine Hamas disarmament first; then any pullout.

2. Hamas: End Israeli operations and withdraw; then heavy-weapons handover.

3. Mediators: Find a phased bridge both sides will not immediately tear up.

Until that bridge exists, Trump’s 15-point paper remains a framework without Israeli buy-in—and Gaza stays stuck between a fragile truce and renewed fighting.