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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on August 9, 2026, that Israel rejects the 15-point document advanced by US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. The Israeli leader added that the military will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed while continuing to thwart threats against its forces and citizens. He noted that discussions with US officials were under way to determine next steps, Reuters reported from Jerusalem while CNN and Al Jazeera carried similar accounts of the session.
Trump’s Board of Peace announced the agreement last month after Hamas signaled acceptance of complete disarmament for itself and other armed groups in the territory. The US president described the development as a monumental step toward lasting peace and security following intensive negotiations that built on his initial framework unveiled the previous September. A Council on Foreign Relations guide to the associated 20-point plan outlined provisions linking demilitarization to phased Israeli pullbacks, governance changes and commitments under the Sharm el-Sheikh Protocol.
Hamas conditioned its handover of heavy weapons on Israel ending all forms of aggression and completing a full withdrawal from Gaza, positions reiterated after the July 31 announcement. The group has approved the roadmap in principle yet differences persist over verification and the fate of confiscated arms that Israeli officials want destroyed rather than stored. Such gaps have stalled progress toward the plan’s second phase, according to reporting by the Times of Israel on the full text of the Board of Peace deal.
The current impasse follows a ceasefire that both parties accepted in October 2025 to pause the broader conflict that erupted three years earlier. Palestinian health authorities have recorded more than 1,000 fatalities in Gaza from subsequent Israeli operations during the truce, the Gaza Health Ministry told NPR in June while UNRWA situation reports through mid-July placed post-ceasefire deaths at 1,084 with thousands injured. These figures come against overall war totals exceeding 73,000 killed and 170,000 wounded as compiled by the same ministry and shared with UN agencies.
Netanyahu’s rejection arrives months ahead of Israeli elections in October, when security concessions could prove politically costly, a Chatham House assessment published days earlier observed. The prime minister has consistently opposed any pathway to Palestinian statehood referenced in elements of Trump’s original plan, creating a core divergence with both Hamas demands and certain provisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh framework. Israeli officials had already flagged serious security concerns to the White House before the July announcement, including objections to mediator roles for Qatar and Turkey.
The Board of Peace document details a sequenced process in which an international verification committee would monitor disarmament only after initial Israeli redeployments and the entry of a designated civil administration body. Netanyahu’s office had signaled reservations even prior to Sunday’s cabinet statement, emphasizing that Israel had not endorsed the draft as written. Further talks are expected as pressure mounts to address postwar reconstruction and governance in the enclave amid the lingering humanitarian strains.
