The Board of Peace plan touted by President Donald Trump seems to have reached an impasse as both Israel and Hamas demand that the other side take the first step.
BOP Director-General Nickolay Mladenov met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week following a series of airstrikes on Gaza in defiance of the plan announced by Trump over the weekend. Following the meeting, the BOP released a statement indicating that Israel will not be required to withdraw troops from Gaza until Hamas disarms.
“Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the [Israeli military] beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators,” the Board of Peace said in a statement Monday. “This applies to light weapons, heavy weapons, and the tunnels alike.”
The board added: “The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the Strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance.”
Netanyahu stated on Tuesday that Israel has rejected the proposal and “will not withdraw from our current lines until Hamas is completely disarmed.” He added that Israel already voiced objections to the plan before it was announced.
“We sent our comments, and we sent them before the media campaign on the matter began,” the prime minister said. “That is our position. We stand firm on our interests, both wisely and forcefully.”
It is a setback that seems to put Gaza reconstruction efforts back to square one, as Hamas has repeatedly said that it will only disarm following a full withdrawal of Israeli military personnel from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military personnel in Gaza were instructed earlier Tuesday not to strike in the region without approval from top command or political leaders, but that gesture is unlikely to budge Hamas officials.
Netanyahu spokesman Doron Spielman said that Hamas is still actively seeking to rebuild its military capacity to continue violent resistance against Israel, and he said that relinquishing the 60% of the strip under Israeli control could result in a new threat from the region.
“Our assessment is that if we redeploy before Hamas is truly disarmed, it will quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, once again threaten Israeli communities, and seek to carry out another Oct. 7-style attack,” Spielman said. “Disarming means physically giving up the weapons. Nothing less.”
Board of Peace officials previously dismissed concerns that Israel would disrupt the implementation of the peace plan in comments to the Washington Examiner last week.
“We’ve gotten strong commitments from Israel. Do they have politics? Yes. Do they have people with different viewpoints in their government? Sure, it’s a vibrant and thriving democracy,” a BOP official told the Washington Examiner last week. “The whole implementation route is going to be a challenge, but I don’t see Israel as a singular problem in isolation that keeps me up at night.”
BOARD OF PEACE DEMANDS NETANYAHU CEASE GAZA AIRSTRIKES AS ISRAEL REFUSES TO COMPLY WITH PEACE PLAN
Several ministers in Netanyahu’s Cabinet have been outspokenly against the existence of the Board of Peace, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said it was “clear from the outset that no international force would do the job for us in Gaza; only the State of Israel can destroy Hamas.”
The proposed peace plan was ultimately approved by Hamas after months of negotiations with diplomats from the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is perhaps the only high-ranking official in the country enthusiastic about the Board of Peace’s plan, telling a gathering of diplomats on Monday that he sees “a lot of positive elements in the efforts.”
Emphasizing that Hamas must be “disarmed fully,” he said the board’s plan “can bring a certain vision of hope, also to the people of Gaza and to the people of Israel.”