Netanyahu rejects Gaza plan in new break from Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a US-led Gaza plan endorsed by Hamas, putting distance between himself and President Donald Trump as he tries to shore up his base ahead of close elections.

After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism of the plan, and despite receiving assurances that Israel would not need to start withdrawing in Gaza immediately, Netanyahu explicitly opposed the deal following pushback from his right-wing allies.

"Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said, referring to the plan Hamas agreed to in late July.

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 told a cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu described Trump, who had hailed the Gaza deal as a milestone for peace, as "our greatest friend in the White House" -- but quickly made clear he was willing to challenge him, saying Israel was raising its objections with the United States.

"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.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is running even or trailing in some polls ahead of October 27 elections, the country's first since the devastating October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

Polls show that the Gaza plan is unpopular with Netanyahu's right-wing base, and far-right members of his cabinet have urged him to kill it.

Hamas, days after selecting a new leader, Khalil al-Hayya, announced it supported the Gaza plan, and has since called on Washington to push Netanyahu to accept it.

"We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap, and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons," Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau, told AFP.

Hamas in a statement said it was still committed to the plan.

- Friction with Trump -

Netanyahu until recently campaigned on the strength of his relationship with Trump, who has taken unprecedented steps to back Israel, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Trump joined Netanyahu in late February in launching a war against Iran, but the two diverged when Trump sought a ceasefire and subsequent settlement to the conflict as it sapped his popularity and sent oil prices soaring.

Netanyahu told his cabinet that "with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons", a goal he has long alleged Tehran is pursuing.

Netanyahu last week also ordered fresh strikes on Lebanon in response to what Israel called a ceasefire violation by Iran-backed Hezbollah, just as Israel and Lebanon were holding US-mediated talks.

The Gaza plan was the latest stage in a US-brokered ceasefire announced in October that has reduced, but not ended, Israeli operations there.

Hamas said it would surrender weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing body. The plan said Israel would begin pulling out forces in tandem with the disarmament, a timeline it adamantly rejected.

After meeting Netanyahu last week, Trump's body implementing the deal, dubbed the Board of Peace, backtracked and said Israel would only need to withdraw after "complete" disarmament, but it was apparently not enough for Netanyahu.

"We are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament," he said Sunday.

- Israeli offensive -

Egypt, a key mediator, called on all sides to "honour their commitments" and refrain from action that could jeopardise progress, in a call between Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov.

Despite Netanyahu's stance, Israel appears to have decreased operations in Gaza since the deal was announced, but hasn't halted them completely. 

Israeli gunfire on Sunday injured a child who was taken to hospital in Khan Yunis, civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said

Israeli operations in Gaza have killed 1,258 Palestinians since the ceasefire, according to the territory's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.

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