Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday afternoon that Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza document proposed by the Board of Peace, and he tied any withdrawal by the IDF to what he called the genuine disarmament of Hamas. The message was blunt. No withdrawal first, no Palestinian state, and no room for anything he described as "Fatahstan" or "Hamastan." Ordinary people in Gaza, once again, are left under the terms of rival rulers who speak the language of security while deciding who gets to move, build, or breathe.
The State's Monopoly
Netanyahu told the cabinet meeting, "Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza document proposed by the Board of Peace," and added, "The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed." He also reiterated his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. "As for the Gaza Strip, first of all, I want to make the main point clear: as long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria. Neither 'Fatahstan' nor 'Hamastan,'" he said.
That’s the state system in miniature. One armed authority says it won’t move until the other armed authority is stripped of weapons. The people underneath get the bill.
Netanyahu said Israel was in talks with the US about the disarmament of Hamas, but insisted it would need to be "genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament." He said, "When I say Hamas is disarmed, that means the heavy weapons, the less heavy weapons, all the weapons." The language is tidy. The reality is a monopoly on force, negotiated between governments and enforced over a civilian population that didn’t ask to be the terrain for this arrangement.
Reconstruction Under Security Checks
Earlier on Sunday, Army Radio reported that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz quietly approved new development and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago. According to Army Radio, the location marked for new construction is east of Rafah, within the Yellow Line, with the plan being to build new living spaces for Palestinians outside of Hamas' control. Security sources said the workers involved in the construction would be Gazan Palestinians, who are currently having their background checked by the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency).
So reconstruction arrives with a checkpoint attached. New living spaces, yes — but only in a zone defined by military lines, only outside Hamas control, and only after the Shin Bet checks the people who might build them. The apparatus never really leaves the room. It just changes uniforms.
Netanyahu also addressed rumors regarding Israel's activity in Lebanon. "In recent days Israel has acted forcefully in Lebanon, eliminating terrorists, including in the Ali Taher Ridge," he said, though he added that he could not elaborate, calling it "very important activity." The phrase does a lot of work. It covers violence, secrecy, and the usual state habit of asking for trust while refusing detail.
Who Gets to Rule Gaza
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group expects mediators and the US to "press Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap." Naim said Hamas remains committed to the roadmap agreed with in Cairo. That’s the other side of the same cage. Hamas speaks the language of roadmaps and commitments, while Israel speaks the language of disarmament and permanent exclusion. Different flags. Same logic of command.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu’s remarks and said he "welcomed the prime minister's unequivocal clarification." Smotrich said, "We went to war with one central objective: the destruction of Hamas militarily, civilly, and as a governing authority. That means there can be no Hamas in Gaza the day after, and Gaza must not pose a threat to Israeli citizens and residents of the South for many years to come. This roadmap runs 180 degrees contrary to that objective." He added that all reconstruction in Gaza would first require complete Hamas disarmament. "The objective of the war to which we are committed is clear: a situation in which there is no Hamas in Gaza...we will not give up even a fraction of that objective," he said.
The reconstruction talk, the disarmament talk, the roadmap talk — all of it circles back to the same question: who gets to govern, who gets to police, and who gets policed. The answer from the top is always some version of the same thing. Not you.
And that’s the part the official statements can’t hide. The Board of Peace proposes. The cabinet rejects. The IDF waits. Hamas demands. The Shin Bet checks. The US gets pulled into the script. Meanwhile, Gaza remains a place where every plan seems to begin with control and end with someone else’s obedience.