JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected President Donald Trump's 15-point peace plan for Gaza.
Addressing Sunday's Cabinet meeting, he said, 'I have heard people saying: 'You didn't say it.' So here I am saying it again: Israel does not accept the 15-point document.'
He made it clear that Israeli military will not pull-out from the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave until Hamas is 'genuinely' disarmed.
'The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,' Netanyahu said during opening remarks at the weekly meeting.
Trump had announced last month that the Board of Peace has reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.
'This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people. At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks,' Trump said in an announcement made on Truth Social on July 30.
Terming this as a major milestone in the implementation of his Gaza Peace Plan, the President said the agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.
But Hamas insists that it will lay down its heavy weapons only if Israel completely withdraws from Gaza and halts 'all forms of aggression'.
Meanwhile, the Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov said on Israel's Channel 12, 'Nobody is required to do anything, least of all Israel, before we actually have verified steps on the ground. If there is verified decommissioning of weapons, that they are taken away from the factions and stored and ultimately rendered unusable, Israel then withdraws from Gaza.'
Amid intense efforts by the Board Of Peace and the mediators - Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and the United States - to bring the Palestinian factions in Gaza to agree to a Roadmap on the full implementation of President Trump's plan, to hand over civilian governance and to decommission their weapons, Israeli forces continued strikes across the region, killing civilians and destroying medical supplies that people depend on.
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