As the US-backed Board of Peace advances its roadmap for postwar Gaza, Hamas has asserted its readiness to proceed with the plan and urged Washington to exert pressure on Israel to implement it, while Israeli officials warn that the terror group is exploiting the diplomatic process to avoid renewed military action.
Hamas Commits to Disarmament Plan Under US-Backed Roadmap
Hamas informed US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that it stands by the latest stage of the roadmap, which involves operatives handing over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee in the war-battered territory. Last week, President Trump hailed Hamas agreeing to disarmament as a breakthrough, with the Board of Peace stating that Israel would simultaneously carry out a phased withdrawal from much of Gaza.
“Hamas and other factions have confirmed to mediators their readiness to begin implementing the agreement and move to the second phase, provided it receives Israeli approval and that Israel begins implementing the agreement,” an anonymous Hamas official told AFP. The official added that Hamas is urging the US administration to pressure Israel into abiding by the agreement.
Israeli Opposition and Warnings of Strategic Deception
Israeli officials have offered a starkly different interpretation of Hamas’s acceptance of the roadmap. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, who reportedly backtracked and stated that Israel would withdraw only after full disarmament by Hamas. Ministers and security chiefs met Thursday to discuss how Israel should respond to the plan, which Jerusalem opposes.
While the security cabinet approved an International Stabilization Force entering Gaza to disarm Hamas and assume control, Netanyahu maintained that Israel did not agree to the terms of the disarmament plan accepted by the group. Some ministers have publicly urged the prime minister to explicitly declare that Israel will not abide by the terms. National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra said Israel handed the US a list of demands to correct the roadmap, which he argued contradicts understandings Netanyahu claimed to reach with Washington in November 2025—though Netanyahu previously cheered the UN’s adoption of Trump’s 20-point plan that same month.
Brig. Gen. Ofir Mizrahi-Rozen, head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate’s Research Department, warned in the Israel Hayom daily that “Hamas agreed to the 15-point plan, but hasn’t abandoned the vision of destroying Israel.” Mizrahi-Rozen also cautioned that the conflict could internationalize if foreign forces from hostile states, such as Turkey and Qatar, deploy close to Israeli border towns. Similarly, Shin Bet chief David Zini described the agreement as “a process of strategic deception aimed at buying time and ensuring we don’t return to [military] action in Gaza before the [October 27] election,” calling it a “strategic ambush” and, according to the Ynet news site, a “diplomatic October 7.”
Calls to Resume Military Operations and Ground Realities
Minister Ze’ev Elkin called for Israel to resume military operations to clearly reject the recent developments, which include a near-total 14-day freeze on strikes and operations. “If Israel doesn’t carry out offensive action for two weeks, the meaning is that we have accepted and entered the process. That’s why we need to publish that we are not signing these 15 points,” Elkin said. Ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strock, and Avi Dichter backed the demand, with Smotrich telling Netanyahu, “You are a master at maneuvering, but now that there is an official document, we must delegitimize this document. We can’t maneuver.”
The IDF has vowed to continue targeting Hamas, which carried out the October 7, 2023, attacks that killed some 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages taken. Although operations have decreased in intensity, violence persists; on Saturday, the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis reported three individuals injured by Israeli army gunfire. According to the Hamas-operated territory health ministry, Israeli operations have killed 1,257 Palestinians since the ceasefire agreement backed by Trump last October, while the Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.
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