Israel to continue Gaza bombardment as Netanyahu rejects US plan, rules out Palestinian state
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The continuing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, now in its fourth year and having killed more than one lakh Palestinians, is unlikely to end any time soon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza and declaring that no Palestinian state will arise as long as he remains prime minister, while insisting that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is completely disarmed.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel “rejects the 15-point document”, referring to the roadmap endorsed by Hamas last month, while insisting that a Palestinian state would not be established in either Gaza or the occupied West Bank, which he referred to as “Judea and Samaria”.
“As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will arise, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would accept neither “Fatahstan” nor “Hamasstan”.
He further insisted that the Israeli army would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas was “genuinely disarmed”, underlying the “real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament”, with all weapons, including small arms, ultimately removed.
Netanyahu said Israel was continuing discussions with the United States over the proposals, accepting some elements while rejecting others. Hamas, meanwhile, reiterated its commitment to implementing the roadmap in full and called on mediators and guarantor countries to ensure that the agreement was upheld.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, urged the US to pressure Netanyahu not to obstruct the agreement for domestic political or electoral reasons, stressing that Hamas remained committed to the roadmap agreed with representatives of the US-led Board of Peace in Cairo.
The dispute has raised questions over the future of the ceasefire and whether the US can persuade the Israeli government to implement the agreement. Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, described Netanyahu’s rejection as a direct challenge to US President Donald Trump, who announced the agreement on 30 July as a “historic” deal aimed at securing the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
The plan calls initially for Hamas to surrender heavy weapons, dismantle military production facilities and weapons depots, and address its extensive network of tunnels.