Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country has rejected the latest US-backed peace plan for Gaza, demanding the full disarmament of Hamas before any Israeli forces withdraw.
The comments come more than a week after US President Donald Trump announced a breakthrough in negotiations, with his Board of Peace issuing a new 15-point plan aimed at securing lasting peace in the territory.
But in his first comments directly addressing the plan, Netanyahu said: “I want to be precise here: Israel rejects the 15-point document.”
He said the Israeli military would “not withdraw at all until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens”.
“We are now discussing this with the Americans,” he added. “They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand up to those things.
“As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will be established — not in Gaza and not in the West Bank,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition faces an election at the end of October and is trailing in opinion polls.
Referring to Israeli military action in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as strikes in Iran earlier this year, Netanyahu added: “Contrary to all those who preach to us, we do what must be done for Israel’s security and we can and will stand our ground even against our best friends when necessary.”
At the end of July, Trump announced what he described as a historic agreement to secure the disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, months after the president first announced a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas said it would only go through with the deal if Israel halts strikes in Gaza and pulls troops back to the “yellow line,” as defined by the October ceasefire agreement.
On Sunday, a senior official of the group said it remained committed to the roadmap set out by Trump’s Peace Council.
“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” said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ politburo on X.
Israeli forces currently occupy more than half of Gaza, in the east and south of the territory and senior ministers have signaled they want to expand control.
Houthis claim attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facility and Yemini port
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a crucial port on the Red Sea.
Fayed al-Noman, assistant undersecretary of the information ministry, said the Houthis fired missiles and drones on the port, severely damaging its buildings and pier as well as commercial goods and food supplies at the facility.
The National Resistance Forces, a Yemeni government-allied force, said at least seven people – four troops and three civilians – were killed and 15 civilians were injured in Sunday’s attack on Mokha port.
Mokha is one of the main ports under Yemen’s internationally recognised government, renovated in recent years to handle shipping that avoids the Houthi-held ports in Hodeida.
The Houthis later claimed the attack, saying they fired “a large number of ballistic missiles and drones” that targeted military enforcement and warehouses in the area.
Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said they also targeted an Aramco refinery in the Saudi Arabian city of Jazan with a drone.
The attack was in response to Saudi drones’ breaching Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Hajjah and Saada, he said.
Early on Sunday, the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire at a facility belonging to the Aramco refinery without describing its cause. No casualties were reported.
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