Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday his nation is rejecting a peace plan proposed by President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.

‘I want to clarify this: Israel rejects the 15-point document. I have heard people saying, ‘You didn’t say that.’ So here I am saying it again, Netanyahu told a meeting of his Cabinet.

‘The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed,’ the Israeli PM added. 

Last month, Trump championed a breakthrough in his peace plan for Gaza but it appeared to hit a major roadblock Sunday as Netanyahu flatly rejected a key part of the proposed deal, insisting Hamas must surrender every weapon before Israeli troops leave the territory.

Trump had celebrated what he described as a breakthrough in negotiations last month, saying Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms. But the Board of Peace’s roadmap calls for Israel to gradually withdraw its forces from Gaza as Hamas disarms – a sequence Netanyahu made clear he will not accept.

‘When I say Hamas must be disarmed, I mean heavy weapons, lighter weapons, all weapons. We are talking about genuine disarmament, not a fictitious one,’ Netanyahu declared Sunday, insisting Israeli troops will remain in Gaza until the terror group is completely stripped of its arsenal.

Hamas has taken the opposite position. The group said last month it would only disarm after Israel fully withdraws from Gaza and ends military operations, adding that surrendering its heavy weapons would come later and only if a Palestinian state is established.

Netanyahu also doubled down on his long-standing opposition to Palestinian statehood, declaring: ‘As long as I am Prime Minister, there will be no Palestinian State.’ His comments come as he faces a fierce political fight ahead of October elections, with the wars in Gaza and Iran expected to dominate the campaign.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as US President Donals Trump listens during a press conference in December of 2025 at Mar-a-lago in Florida

Destruction in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, seen on July 31, 2026. Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu said on August 9, 2026, that he was rejecting the latest Gaza peace plan hailed by US president Trump. Netanyahu vowed to not withdraw the IDF from GAZA until Hamas is ‘genuinely’ disarmed

Senior Hamas official Basim Naeem blasted Netanyahu’s remarks, urging US officials and international mediators to ‘exert pressure’ on the Israeli leader to follow the agreed roadmap and ‘prevent him from obstructing the process for domestic political and electoral considerations.’

Naeem said Hamas remained committed to the Board of Peace’s proposal, describing it as an act of ‘national responsibility’ that serves the ‘interests of the Palestinian people.’

Netanyahu acknowledged negotiations with Washington remain ongoing despite the impasse.

‘We are currently discussing this issue with the Americans,’ he said. ‘They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand firm on these matters.’ 

Netanyahu visited Washington, DC last month for the funeral of former South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was one of Israel’s most vocal allies in the US Senate.

During the trip, the Israeli leader also met with Trump at the White House, and rubbed shoulders with other top cabinet officials.

At the Washington National Cathedral, Netanyahu crossed paths with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and was also seen speaking closely with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his wife.

He was also spotted among senior Trump aides and administration heavyweights including Stephen Miller, Steve Witkoff, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, and Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin.

Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu last month was the eighth face-to-face engagement  since the Commander in Chief returned to the White House, and their first in-person encounter since a secretive, behind-closed-doors session on February 11.