Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US administration officials and members of the Board of Peace Monday, an Israeli political source said that “it was agreed that there would be no withdrawal without Hamas disarming.” In other words, the first condition for any future move in Gaza will be the disarmament of Hamas, effectively under US supervision rather than that of mediating countries such as Turkey and Qatar.
“Hamas will hand over its weapons for destruction under the supervision of US Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers,” the political source said. At the same time, “the IDF will be granted and will retain freedom of action to eliminate threats, including Nukhba terrorists,” referring to members of Hamas’ elite commando force. This differs from the Board of Peace’s initial document on the issue.
Earlier, Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with US presidential adviser Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov. The sides discussed a practical framework for governing the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas. It was agreed in the meeting that the Board of Peace would carry out sanitation and public health work throughout the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu reiterated that as long as Hamas’ weapons had not been destroyed, the Israel Defense Forces would remain along the Yellow Line and defend Israel from there.
AFSI Insight
AFSI sees this latest agreement as another statement of what should have been obvious all along: Hamas must be disarmed before Israel withdraws from Gaza. The problem is that this has been discussed repeatedly, while Hamas remains armed and capable of threatening Israel. AFSI believes there must be action—not more promises or diplomatic formulas. No IDF withdrawal should take place until all Hamas’s weapons, terror infrastructure, and military capability have been verifiably eliminated.