Netanyahu rejects Gaza roadmap, demands Hamas disarm before withdrawal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a 15-point roadmap for Gaza, insisting Hamas must surrender all its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw.
"Israel rejects the 15-point framework. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed," Netanyahu said.
He stressed that disarmament must cover "heavy weapons, less heavy weapons and light weapons," describing the demand as a "real disarmament and not a fictitious disarmament."
The roadmap, drawn up by the US-led Board of Peace, proposes a phased process under which Hamas and other Palestinian factions would relinquish control of Gaza's government and security apparatus. Civil administration would pass to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, while disarmament would be linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal.
The two sides remain divided over the sequence of the process. Netanyahu wants Hamas fully disarmed before Israeli troops withdraw, while Hamas has called for Israeli strikes to stop and forces to begin pulling back as disarmament gets under way.
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Netanyahu also reiterated his opposition to Palestinian statehood. "As long as I am Prime Minister, a Palestinian state will not be established, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria," he said.
Israeli strikes have continued across Gaza despite the ceasefire, with much of the territory devastated and most of its population still displaced.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
