Description: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement for the first time, rejecting the plan to disarm Hamas. The plan was announced last week by US President Donald Trump, who called it a historic achievement. Netanyahu stated that Israel’s position remained unchanged, despite the announcement, and until Hamas disarms completely there wouldn’t be any withdrawal by the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip. Hamas has maintained its position that its disarmament would begin only after Israel agrees to start withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. The group’s announcement last week arrived after months of diplomatic pressure, mainly from Qatar, Turkey and Egypt. Israel has continued to kill Palestinians despite the Oct 2025 ceasefire as more than 1,252 individuals were reported dead since Oct last year.
Impact: Hamas likely realized the most effective way of stopping the war was through a political resolution and agreed to provisionally disarm in order to reenter the Palestinian political sphere after being responsible for the Israeli destruction that followed the 07 Oct 2023 attacks. Israel and Netanyahu are unlikely to agree towards any concessions, especially military withdrawal from Gaza until the Oct 2026 election where Netanyahu in large part depends on his far – right coalition partners and parties. Netanyahu’s rejection is likely to create deeper faultlines in the US – Israel relationship, considering that US President Trump labeled the agreement historic and considered it a personal diplomatic achievement. The situation is likely to remain unchanged in the short – term, while US pressure on Israel could potentially result in some form of concessions only after the Oct election in Israel.