Israel has officially conveyed to the White House a message of "serious security concerns" regarding the proposed agreement to disarm Hamas – this is the first public objection from Jerusalem since President Donald Trump announced the deal last week. The expressed objections threaten to complicate what the administration described as a breakthrough in attempts to resolve the nearly three-year-old conflict in Gaza.
Doron Spielman, an official spokesperson for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the Associated Press on Sunday that, according to Israeli intelligence assessments, Hamas continues to intend to rebuild its military potential rather than undergo genuine disarmament. In his words, the Israeli army will not withdraw from Gaza – where it controls over "60%" of the territory – until Hamas completely lays down its arms.
"Our assessment is as follows: if we regroup before Hamas is actually disarmed, it will quickly spread its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, threaten Israeli communities again, and attempt to carry out another October 7-style attack," said Spielman.
"Disarmament means the physical handover of weapons. Nothing less," he added.
The White House declined to comment further on the Israeli assessment on Sunday. Last week, U.S. officials stated that Israel had been included in consultations at every stage of the negotiations and was not being asked for anything more than what it had already committed to in the ceasefire agreement signed in October of last year.
On Friday, July 31, Trump announced that his Peace Council had reached an agreement with Hamas for the total disarmament of armed groups in Gaza, calling it the "most important milestone" of his 20-point ceasefire plan. A copy of the agreement, obtained by AP, describes a phased process: weapons held by Hamas-run police must be handed over to a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, followed by the decommissioning of heavy weaponry and the destruction of tunnels and military production sites – in parallel with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops.
According to sources familiar with the details of the agreement who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, Israel conveyed its concerns through former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is part of the Trump-led Peace Council. Among the conditions demanded by Israel are the freedom to conduct military operations in Gaza, the exclusion of Qatar and Turkey from the list of verifiers for the stages of the agreement, and the destruction of confiscated Hamas weaponry.
Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative for Gaza on the Peace Council, stated on Sunday that his team is working "around the clock" for de-escalation and full implementation of the peace plan.
Israel has continued to strike Gaza since the signing of the ceasefire agreement last October, claiming the targets are Hamas infrastructure sites. According to local hospital data, at least "17" people, including children, have died in recent strikes over the weekend. The Israeli army reported that the strikes targeted combat commanders.
It appears that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its troops before the October elections – Netanyahu is under pressure both from far-right coalition partners insisting on maintaining a presence in Gaza and from opponents accusing him of failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack, which left about "1200" people dead and started the war.