TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
- More than three days after US President Donald Trump unveiled an agreement to disarm Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has still not publicly accepted it; Israeli airstrikes over the weekend killed 28 people in Gaza, the deadliest toll in weeks.
- Netanyahu’s far-right allies demanded the Cabinet reject the plan; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strouk formally urged convening the security cabinet and blocking the international stabilization force (ISF) entry into Gaza.
- The weekend escalation drew a rebuke from Nickolay Mladenov, the chief envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace, who wrote that the violence had killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies; sources said the rebuke reflected anger among US and international mediators.
- Mladenov arrived in Israel to meet Netanyahu with Aryeh Lightstone, a senior US adviser; the meeting was constructive and detailed, but Israel afterward stressed it would not withdraw from the current line in the Gaza Strip.
- Israel refused to pull troops back to the original demarcation line from the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, while Hamas said it would disarm only if Israel withdrew from the additional territory.
- Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi dismissed the agreement, saying “You can wrap tomorrow’s fish with this agreement; it has no meaning,” and Israeli sources assessed Netanyahu would not withdraw from any territory before the vote.
- A source said Netanyahu is highly skeptical that Hamas intends to disarm and is wary of confronting Trump directly, hoping Hamas fails to comply; a senior US administration official said Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel didn’t comply.
CuriousCats Full Story
Key Insight
“Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strouk urged Netanyahu to convene the security cabinet and block the ISF's entry into Gaza, a deployment the Cabinet approved last week. The standoff continues as Israeli sources assess Netanyahu would not withdraw from territory before the general election.”
CuriousCats studied:
1
CNN
“More than three days after US President Donald Trump unveiled an agreement to disarm Hamas as the next phase of his Gaza peace plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has still not said publicly whether he accepts it.”
CNN →Ask CuriousCats
What is Trump's Hamas disarmament plan?
Why hasn't Netanyahu commented on the plan?
Who urged Netanyahu to block ISF's entry into Gaza?
Are other Israeli officials supporting Netanyahu's stance?
How does this situation compare to past conflicts?
