RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that no military pull-out will happen until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed.
Trump's Board of Peace said last month it had reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
But Hamas said handing over its heavy weapons was contingent on Israel ending "all forms of aggression" and withdrawing its forces from Gaza.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza since agreeing to an initial ceasefire in the territory last October.
"Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The Israeli military "will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens", he added.
A Hamas official told the BBC on Sunday the group "reaffirms it commitment" to the agreement and it was ready "to engage seriously and responsibly in implementing" the 15-point plan.
They called on mediators to ensure "that all parties comply with what has been agreed".
Israel's rejection signals another blow for Trump's Gaza peace plan which was announced in September last year.
The plan included the creation of the Board of Peace to oversee the agreement's implementation, as well as the disarmament of Hamas, withdrawal of Israeli troops and reconstruction of Gaza.
But he has taken some time to make it, perhaps reflecting the difficult position the Israeli leader is in.
He clearly is unhappy with Trump's plan but at the same time he will not want to upset his closest ally.
It's just over a week since Trump announced what he called a "monumental step toward lasting peace and security" - that Hamas for the first time had agreed to disarm, on condition that Israel withdraws its forces from Gaza.
On Sunday, Netanyahu was clear that was not going to happen under his watch. He said Hamas had to disarm first, adding that it couldn't be some "fictitious disarmament" - it had to be real.
The reality is any disarmament and withdrawal of Israeli forces would likely need to be phased.
Netanyahu said he was now in discussion with US officials about how to go forward.
"They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters," he said.
But just months before Israeli elections and under pressure from members of his right-wing coalition to take a tough stance on Gaza, he is unlikely to want to make concessions.
He has faced calls from far-right parts of the coalition to hold a new cabinet vote and end the Gaza plan, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir who dismissed the draft as "not acceptable".
Nickolay Mladenov - a senior diplomat tasked with implementing Donald Trump's peace plan - defended the plan on Sunday and said discussions were ongoing in the hope of a "positive outcome".
The board's high representative for Gaza told Israel's Channel 12 that Israel had been asked "to give the process a chance" and said the plan was "the only way forward" to ensure there was no repeat of the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas.
Mladenov said the plan was built on a process that was "verifiable, that is reversible, that at each stage can be stopped, and that we have built up with a very clear-eyed understanding of what are the challenges ahead".
He also said that Israel would not be required to withdraw until it could be verified that Hamas was taking steps to disarm.
According to the United Nations, about 1.9 million people - 90% of Gaza's population - have been displaced in the territory since the war in Gaza started.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
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