Israel Rejects Gaza Disarmament Plan, Says IDF Will Stay Until Hamas Fully Disarmed

Jerusalem, July 2026 : Israel has reiterated its strong opposition to the US-backed plan for Hamas to disarm, making clear that Israeli forces will not withdraw from their current positions in Gaza until the militant group has been completely and genuinely disarmed.

A senior Israeli official, speaking anonymously on Friday, said there would be “no IDF withdrawal from the current Yellow Line” unless Hamas fully surrendered its weapons. The statement came despite US President Donald Trump welcoming a proposed framework aimed at ending the conflict and establishing a phased process for Hamas’ disarmament and Israeli military withdrawal.

The Israeli position highlights a major obstacle to implementing the US-backed Board of Peace proposal, which Hamas accepted on Thursday. The plan envisages the gradual decommissioning of Hamas’ weapons alongside a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

However, Israel has insisted that Hamas must first complete its disarmament before any significant military pullback. The latest statement appears to go further, indicating that Israel is unwilling to withdraw even to the existing Yellow Line until it is satisfied that Hamas no longer poses a military threat.

Under an earlier ceasefire arrangement reached in October 2025, Israel controlled approximately 53 per cent of Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces have expanded their presence and now control more than 60 per cent of the territory, according to reports.

The US-backed proposal calls for Israel to return its forces to the original Yellow Line within days as one of the initial steps towards implementing the agreement. Hamas, however, has warned that it will not surrender its weapons unless Israel first carries out the agreed withdrawal.

The conflicting positions have raised serious questions about whether the proposed ceasefire framework can be implemented as envisaged.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly respond to Hamas’ acceptance of the proposal. His continued silence has been widely viewed as an indication that his government remains deeply opposed to key elements of the agreement.

The White House has meanwhile signalled growing frustration with Israel’s stance. A senior US official warned on Thursday that President Trump could become “very disappointed” if Jerusalem failed to make progress on Washington’s broader Gaza reconstruction and governance plan.

The disagreement comes as the Trump administration seeks to move the conflict towards a political settlement after prolonged fighting and mounting humanitarian concerns.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has strongly rejected the proposed agreement, describing it as unacceptable. In a statement on Telegram, Ben-Gvir argued that Israel should not agree to any arrangement that would allow Hamas to retain its military capabilities.

He maintained that Israeli military operations should continue and called for continued pressure on Hamas. Ben-Gvir also advocated encouraging Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, arguing that Israel must ultimately prevail in the conflict.

The sharp differences between Israel, Hamas and the United States underline the enormous challenges facing efforts to implement the latest Gaza peace framework. While Hamas has signalled conditional acceptance, Israel remains opposed to withdrawing before the militant group is fully disarmed.

The central dispute therefore remains over the sequencing of the agreement: Hamas wants an Israeli withdrawal before surrendering its weapons, while Israel insists that complete disarmament must precede any withdrawal.

With both sides maintaining fundamentally different positions, the next phase of negotiations is likely to focus on establishing a mechanism that can address the disarmament issue while providing sufficient security guarantees to Israel and meeting the broader objectives of the US-backed plan.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)