Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 Palestinians on Sunday, even as President Donald Trump announced an advance in efforts to implement a ceasefire agreement. Israel, however, voiced “serious security concerns” to the White House regarding a proposed Hamas disarmament deal. The strikes continued for a second straight day, with Israeli officials stating they saw no agreement to halt the attacks.
Doron Spielman, spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, stated Israel's intelligence assessment shows Hamas remains committed to rebuilding its military, not genuinely demilitarizing. He warned that redeploying before Hamas is truly disarmed would allow it to “quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, once again threaten Israeli communities, and seek to carry out another Oct. 7-style attack.” Spielman insisted, “Disarming means physically giving up the weapons. Nothing less.”
President Trump had declared a breakthrough on Thursday, claiming Hamas agreed to disarm under a U.S.-backed initiative. This initiative aims to implement a ceasefire agreement reached less than 1 year ago in Egypt. The Trump-led Council of Peace, overseeing the ceasefire, published a 15-point roadmap on Friday detailing the final steps for implementation.
Hamas, for its part, stated it would only hand over its weapons for storage after Israel ceased military operations and withdrew its forces, aligning with the agreement from less than 1 year ago. An Israeli official, speaking to Reuters, countered that Israel would not withdraw from its current military positions unless Hamas executed a “genuine disarmament.”
Who Decided
The proposed agreement, obtained and verified by the AP, mandates that all weapons held by the Hamas-run police be transferred to the U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, upon its arrival in the enclave. This framework also outlines a process to decommission heavy weapons, dismantle military production sites and tunnels, which would commence after the committee's arrival and the deployment of international forces. This process is explicitly linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal, effectively placing national security decisions under the purview of external bodies. The Israeli minister of energy, Eli Cohen, a member of the security cabinet, asserted there was no agreement to halt the strikes on Gaza. He maintained Israel needed to take full control of the territory, stating it already controlled 70% of it.
What It Costs the People
The human cost of the ongoing conflict remains staggering. The Gaza Health Ministry reported more than 73,000 people killed in Israel’s offensive since Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities on the third anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023. These figures, which U.N. agencies and international organizations generally deem reliable, indicate women and children constitute approximately half of all fatalities. Local Gaza hospitals reported at least 17 people, including children, were killed in the latest Israeli strikes. A strike on a residential apartment in southern Gaza killed three family members, including their 4-year-old child. The areas Israel controls in Gaza have been mostly destroyed and depopulated. Most of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians now reside in the other part of the territory, where hundreds of thousands live in squalid tent camps and destroyed neighborhoods.
Elite Interests and Dissent
U.S. officials claimed Israel had been consulted at every step of the negotiations and was not being asked to do anything beyond its commitments in the ceasefire and hostage release agreement signed less than 1 year ago. However, Israel conveyed specific concerns to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who serves on the Trump-led Board of Peace. These concerns included Israel's desire for freedom to conduct military operations in Gaza, the exclusion of Qatar and Turkey from verifying agreement stages, and the destruction of Hamas's weapons after confiscation. Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, publicly called the initiative unacceptable, advocating for Israel to continue targeting Hamas leaders. Mohammed Dahlan, an ex-high-ranking Fatah official, stated on Facebook that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was working with the Israeli side to stop attacks on Gaza. Dahlan added that contacts with the U.S. were continuing to ensure the agreement was fully implemented, and its success now depended on Israel ending its daily attacks on Gaza.