Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel rejected a draft proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump’s administration that sought to secure Hamas’s disarmament as part of a broader plan to end the war in Gaza. He also ruled out any Israeli withdrawal from current military positions in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s remarks laid bare the widening gap between Washington and Jerusalem, puncturing President Donald Trump‘s claim that a breakthrough had been reached on the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups. Speaking about the proposal, Netanyahu said Trump’s team had circulated a draft proposal to secure Hamas’s disarmament and the demilitarisation of Gaza.
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“President Trump and his team think they can bring Hamas to disarm and demilitarise Gaza. They sent us a draft, we did not agree to it,” he said.
“It’s not our draft. We sent our comments. By the way, we sent our comments before we received a media campaign on the matter. This is our position. And we are standing firm on our interests, I think, with both wisdom and with firmness,” Trump added.
Any suggestion that Israel would ease its military campaign was also firmly rejected by Netanyahu.
“We will not withdraw from our current lines until Hamas is completely wiped out.”
CEASEFIRE PLAN FACES NEW HURDLE
Netanyahu’s comments came hours after Israeli media reported that he had personally rejected major elements of Trump’s Gaza roadmap during a meeting with Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s lead envoy for Gaza. According to Israel Hayom, Netanyahu told Mladenov that Israel would neither halt military operations nor withdraw from territory currently under its control.
Israel’s National Security Council had already forwarded the government’s reservations to both the Board of Peace and Trump’s team before the latest meeting, according to the report.
The Israeli PM maintained that Hamas continued rebuilding its military capabilities and still posed a direct threat to Israeli forces and nearby communities, making any immediate ceasefire unacceptable from Israel’s perspective.
TRUMP PRAISES GAZA BREAKTHROUGH
Only days earlier, Trump had praised a “major milestone” in the Gaza conflict, claiming a deal had been struck to secure the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups. Calling it an achievement, the US President said the proposal represented “a great breakthrough” and said Israel supported the initiative.
“It’s a big step for the Middle East, and people are really impressed by it, and they’re surprised by it,” Trump said. However, even as Washington celebrated the announcement, both Israel and Hamas had signalled that major obstacles still stood in the way of implementation.
HAMAS DEMANDS ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FIRST
Hamas has insisted that any agreement can move forward only if Israel first fulfils commitments made under the ceasefire framework reached last year in Sharm el-Sheikh. According to Reuters, Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad described the proposed arrangement as “difficult and painful” but said implementation depended on Israel ending military operations, withdrawing its forces and allowing greater humanitarian access into Gaza.
Under the roadmap published by Trump’s Board of Peace, heavy weapons, military production facilities, weapons depots and tunnels would be decommissioned and placed under the supervision of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. The document specifies that weapons would not be handed over to Israel or any non-Palestinian party.
The Board of Peace has also proposed a phased process under which civilian governance would gradually replace armed control inside Gaza.
Despite the differences, diplomatic efforts remain underway. The US has continued working with regional partners in an attempt to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged both sides to implement the roadmap without delay.
– Ends
With inputs from agencies
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
