Source : Perth Now news
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the US-backed Board of Peace roadmap for disarming Hamas in the Gaza Strip in return for withdrawal by the Israeli military.
“Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed,” he added, referring to the Israel Defense Forces
Netanyahu said this applied to all weapons, not just heavy weapons. The prime minister also reaffirmed his opposition to an independent Palestinian state.
The Board of Peace stated nearly a week ago that it expected Israel to make a complete withdrawal from the coastal enclave only after Hamas had been disarmed.
Under the roadmap, Israel and Hamas are supposed to halt the fighting.
A Palestinian transitional administration, supported by an international stabilisation force, is to take control of administration and security as the Israeli military withdraws.
The weapons handed over by Hamas under international supervision would remain under Palestinian control. Israel rejects this, however, and insists that the weapons be removed from Palestinian territory.
Hamas made the surrender of heavy weapons conditional on several requirements, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
As part of a peace plan brokered by US President Donald Trump, an internationally staffed Board of Peace was established at the beginning of the year.
It is tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the postwar political order in the devastated coastal territory.
