Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected President Trump's 15-point peace plan for Gaza, saying Israeli forces will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is "genuinely disarmed."
"We are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament," he said at a meeting with government ministers Sunday.
Netanyahu's comments come just over a week after President Trump announced that his Board of Peace had reached a deal with the Palestinian militant group to completely give up its weapons.
"Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY," Trump wrote on social media in late July.
Under Trump's proposed peace deal, Board of Peace officials said Hamas and other militant groups would hand their arms over to a vetted international policing force.
But a senior Hamas official previously told NPR that the group would only hand over their weapons if Israel withdrew from parts of Gaza first.
The latest dispute follows an initial ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, alongside Trump's broader 20-point Gaza plan.
That first phase of the peace plan halted major fighting, provided for the release of remaining hostages in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, increased humanitarian aid, and called for a partial Israeli withdrawal. More contentious issues – including Hamas's disarmament and further Israeli withdrawals – were left to later negotiations.
Trump's new 15-point roadmap, published on July 31, sought to move those unresolved issues forward. It envisioned Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament as part of a phased process, rather than requiring Hamas to fully disarm before Israeli forces began pulling back.
The Board of Peace had already backed Netanyahu on that key point, saying on Aug. 3 that Israeli forces would not withdraw beyond the Yellow Line until Hamas's weapons were fully decommissioned. Netanyahu's decision to emphasize his demand again comes less than three months before Israel's Oct. 27 election, with polls showing his coalition is at risk of losing its majority.
The apparent stalemate comes as Israel still controls roughly 70% of Gaza, according to Palestinian officials and aid agencies.
Hamas released a press statement Sunday saying it was still committed "to the roadmap agreed upon" in the agreement.
NPR's Anas Baba contributed to this report from Gaza.
Copyright 2026 NPR