Netanyahu, rejecting Trump’s Gaza plan, says Hamas must withdraw

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Aug. 9 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of Donald Trump’s latest Gaza plan in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday, even as Israel’s military has effectively halted attacks in the territory under pressure from the U.S. President.

Netanyahu is struggling in the polls as he seeks re-election at a vote due on October 27 but is caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and his key military backer, Trump, who wants progress toward ending the conflict there with a new 15-point roadmap.

Israel has scaled back attacks in Gaza since Monday, when Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, met with Netanyahu.

A source familiar with Israel’s position said it had agreed that the military would only act against what it perceives as immediate threats in Gaza and no longer carry out targeted assassinations as it had been doing on a near-daily basis.

Mladenov said on Sunday that discussions on the new roadmap were ongoing.

Trump proclaimed last month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war, to which both Israel and Hamas agreed, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an International Stabilization Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.

But complications have swiftly emerged with questions over the plan’s timeline.

“Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with cabinet ministers. The military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed … it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry.

Netanyahu made similar remarks in a social media post on Tuesday and Israeli officials have said reservations have been shared with Washington.

He added that Israel was in talks with the United States on the plan. “They (the U.S.) have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us and we know how to stand firm against these things,” Netanyahu said.…Read more by n, S, v, b, R, c, M, r, i, e, a, d, g, N, u, -, h, s, l, t