Netanyahu Rejects Trump-Backed 15-Point Gaza Peace Plan

On August 9, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a 15-point Gaza peace plan that had been put forward by US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel's military will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed, and that Israeli forces would continue to act against threats to troops and citizens. The plan had reportedly been described by Trump just over a week earlier as a "historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other groups in Gaza." The rejection was widely reported as a setback to peace negotiations the US administration has been brokering since September. A Hamas official responded by saying the United States must pressure Israel to accept the next phase of the agreement, and called for mediators and American guarantors to intervene. Separately, on August 20, the State Department notified Congress of its intent to fund a Gaza stabilization force, a move reported as occurring the same day Trump's Board of Peace announced a plan aimed at disarming Hamas. As of the reporting, it remains unresolved whether or how the disagreement between Israel and the US-backed plan will be reconciled, and what specific steps, if any, Hamas has taken or will take toward disarmament. The relationship between Netanyahu's rejection and the later State Department funding announcement—including whether the funding decision reflects a revised approach to the plan—is not clearly established across the available reporting.