🔶 Netanyahu: Israel did not agree to the U.S.-backed plan for Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said that Israel has not agreed to the plan for the Gaza Strip backed by the United States; even after receiving assurances that the withdrawal of Israeli forces would take place only after Hamas is disarmed.

On Tuesday evening, 4 August (13 Mordad), Netanyahu said in a video he posted on his accounts on social media that Donald Trump’s team, the U.S. president, “believes it can achieve the disarmament of Hamas and make Gaza civilian. We are considering this. They sent a draft to us; we did not approve it. It is not our draft. We sent our views to them.”

Netanyahu met on Monday with the “Peace Council,” backed by the United States, and received assurances that the Israeli army would be required to leave its current positions in Gaza only after Hamas is disarmed. However, Netanyahu has been under heavy pressure from his far-right coalition partners to reject the deal.