Netanyahu rejects sequencing of Board of Peace's 15-point Gaza plan

Israel’s military now controls about 65% of Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the sequencing of a 15-point Gaza plan drawn up by the Board of Peace — the international body established by U.S. President Donald Trump — telling the White House that “we know how to stand our ground, even against our best friends when necessary.” The Guardian reported Sunday that Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right members of his coalition, dismissed what he called “a wave of rumours of … Israeli withdrawals on all fronts.”

The rejection followed Trump’s end-of-July announcement that a “monumental” U.S.-backed deal had been struck on Gaza, securing the phased disarmament of Hamas in parallel with Israeli military withdrawal. Three days later, The Guardian reported, another 18 people had died in Israeli airstrikes.

Since last October’s ceasefire agreement, close to 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air assaults, according to The Guardian. Far from withdrawing, the Israeli military has expanded its presence and now controls about 65% of the territory, the paper reported. Hemmed in toward the coast, much of the population faces what The Guardian described as an unrelenting daily struggle, with people repeatedly displaced amid the rubble as different areas are targeted and bombed.

The Guardian reported that formal schooling has not restarted, the healthcare system has been largely destroyed and the entry of medical and other humanitarian aid remains severely restricted. Reconstruction work has been blocked, and the first building contract issued by the Board of Peace is for an outpost to host foreign troops.

The Guardian’s editorial board argued that in calling for complete Hamas disarmament before Israel makes a move, Netanyahu is “transparently playing for time.” Two months out from the first elections held since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, the paper said, his priority is appeasing the far-right forces who can keep him in power; if he loses, it reported, he could face jail in relation to corruption charges first laid more than five years ago.

The editorial said the Board of Peace’s attempts to reassure the Israeli government over the verification process for disarming Hamas indicate that a tipping point has not been reached. It argued that Trump has the power to isolate the Israeli prime minister and compel a different approach, and said despairing Palestinians can only hope that growing White House frustration with what it called Netanyahu’s “forever wars” will lead to that tipping point — one the editorial said should have been reached during Joe Biden’s presidency.

The editorial also said the world’s attention has shifted to what it called Trump’s “illegal and reckless” war on Iran, a “grievous miscalculation” in which it said Netanyahu also played his part.

Ahead of challenging midterm elections for Republicans, recent polling suggests that traditionally high levels of U.S. public sympathy with Israel are on the wane, The Guardian reported. The editorial concluded that Trump has a choice between continuing to accept being played by Israel’s prime minister and exerting the kind of pressure that could bring genuine relief to Gaza.