Israel rejects Gaza peace plan, Netanyahu won't withdraw troops until Hamas is disarmed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/DOK FOTO via Instagram @b.netanyahu

JAKARTA - Israel officially rejected the 15-point Gaza peace plan supported by the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli forces would not be withdrawn before Hamas was completely dismantled.

China Daily, quoted on Sunday, August 9, reported that Netanyahu's statement on Sunday was Israel's first official rejection of the plan.

At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would continue to carry out attacks in Gaza to "disrupt the threat".

Israeli officials have previously estimated their military controls about 70 percent of Gaza.

"When I say disarm Hamas, what I mean is heavy weapons, lighter weapons, all weapons," Netanyahu said.

Although it rejected the plan, Israel is still discussing the document with the United States.

"They have ideas. Some of them we can accept and some of them we can't. We know how to defend our position on this issue," he said.

The 15-point plan was drafted in May by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza from the "Board of Peace". The document was then announced by US President Donald Trump in late July.

Trump at the time said the Peace Council had reached an agreement on "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

A day after Trump's announcement, Hamas said it had agreed to a "new version of the roadmap" for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal after what it called "intense" negotiations.

However, Hamas has set a number of conditions. The arms arrangement must be accompanied by a full cessation of "aggression", the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and progress in reconstruction.

Since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect in October 2025, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,250 people and wounded more than 4,100 others in Gaza, according to the region's health authorities.