Israel’s Netanyahu formally rejects Trump’s Gaza peace plan

Israel would not accept the 15-point U.S.-backed plan for peace in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at a cabinet meeting. The plan called for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza in phases while Hamas militants gradually laid down their arms in stages. Israel would not withdraw until the militant group completely disarmed, Netanyahu said. The news came roughly a week after Trump announced that Hamas agreed to the plan.

Netanyahu, who is running for reelection, said he would never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state, whether in the West Bank or in Gaza. It was unclear who he thought should govern Gaza. The U.S.-backed Board of Peace plan included the establishment of a Palestinian police force to maintain order, followed by a new Palestinian government in Gaza. Hamas said in early July that it dissolved its government in Gaza. The United States and Israel view it as a terrorist organization.

What now? Netanyahu said he was talking to the United States about possible solutions, but wouldn’t change his position, he said. He would stand his ground for Israel’s security, even against its best friends, he said.

A Hamas spokesman told the BBC that the terror group was still committed to the peace plan and willing to negotiate.

President Donald Trump didn’t directly respond to Netanyahu, but he shared a link on social media to an op-ed written by Hillary Clinton, a political foe of his. The former U.S. Secretary of State argued that there was no alternative to the plan. If she, as an opponent of Trump, recognized that the plan was the only option, others should too, she wrote.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on the deals of the now-rejected peace plan.