DOHA/DUBAI: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday Tehran would support any initiative or decision taken by Palestinian leaders in ongoing indirect negotiations between militant group Hamas and Israel, Iranian state media reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed and pushed back on a recent deal announced by US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war. It also marked a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration.
The agreement called for Hamas to begin disarming and for Israel to halt its strikes and begin withdrawing from the roughly 60 percent of Gaza it currently controls. It was based on an October ceasefire agreement that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza but has stalled on other fronts.
Netanyahu, who faces a tough battle for reelection in October, reiterated his stance that disarmament should come first. He said Israeli forces would continue to “do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, our territory, and our citizens.”
The Trump administration “sent us a draft. We did not agree. It is not our draft. We sent our comments. … This is our position,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media.
Hamas voices ‘unease’ over Board of Peace comments on Gaza
Hamas on Tuesday called for clarifications from US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, voicing “unease” over comments it made regarding the group’s prospective disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal in Gaza.
The Palestinian Islamist movement said on Friday that it had agreed to hand over its weapons, with the Board of Peace publishing a roadmap including provisions for the group’s gradual disarmament and a “phased Israeli withdrawal” from Gaza.
But Israel had remained defiant against a pullout without the prior completion of verifiable disarmament by Hamas.
Following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the Board of Peace appeared to reassure Israel, saying that the withdrawal of the country’s forces from its current positions in Gaza would only begin once Hamas completely disarmed.
A Hamas official said Tuesday that Hamas and other Palestinian factions “are uneasy with the statement issued by (Nickolay) Mladenov after his meeting with Netanyahu,” referring to the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace.
“The statement focused solely on the issue of weapons and failed to address the occupation’s obligations, particularly those related to humanitarian aspects and Israel’s commitment to halting its aggression, including aerial and artillery bombardment, gunfire, assassinations and military operations in the Gaza Strip,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another Hamas official said the group was waiting for a “clear and official response” from Mladenov regarding the “agreed-upon terms, Mladenov’s position on the Israeli military escalation in Gaza, and the ongoing policy of stalling on the implementation of the agreement.”
Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye, which are mediating the truce in Gaza, have criticized Israel after renewed strikes in the Palestinian territory.
Qatar blamed Israel on Tuesday for delays in implementing the Trump plan for Gaza.
“It is clear to the international community who is obstructing the implementation of the agreement,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters.
“The full responsibility lies on the Israeli side.”
An increase in Israeli strikes in Gaza over recent days was “nothing more than an attempt to derail the plan’s implementation and block peaceful solutions,” he added.
Following Monday’s meeting with Netanyahu, the Board of Peace posted on X that Israel’s withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which demarcates the area between Hamas and Israeli military control, “will take place only once decommissioning (of weapons) is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators,” it posted on X.
The stance appears to contradict what Mladenov said on Friday, when he posted on X that: “Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”
