Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point Gaza Peace Plan, saying the Israeli military will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed. And in Iran, Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it won't reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets Tehran's demands.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the 15-point Gaza Peace Plan proposed by Trump's Board of Peace.
The agreement calls for Hamas to begin disarming in exchange for Israel to halt its strikes, and to begin to withdraw from the roughly 60 per cent of Gaza it currently controls.
In his first official and straightforward rejection of the plan, Mr Netanyahu says the Israeli military will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed.
"Israel rejects the 15-point plan. I heard people say, you didn't say, we said, but here, I'm saying it again, Israel rejects the 15-point plan. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say disarming Hamas, it means the heavy weapons, the less heavy weapons, and the light weapons, all the weapons, and we are talking about real disarmament, not a fictitious disarmament."
He says Israel is still in talks with the United States about the details of the plan, but will continue to respond to any threats with force.
"Now we are talking with the Americans about this issue. They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us, and some are not. We know how to stand up to these things, we have proven it in the past, and we are proving it today as well. Additionally, the IDF will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens. Because once again, the existence of Israel and the security of all Israeli citizens is not up for negotiation. We stand firm on these interests."
The Board of Peace — an international organisation established to oversee Gaza's post-war reconstruction and governance — said last month it had reached an agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas.
Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, has reiterated an assurance he made to Mr Netanyahu last week that Israel would be expected pull out of Gaza only after Hamas disarms.
In a statement posted on social media, Senior Hamas Official Basem Naim says Hamas remains committed to the plan agreed to in Cairo 10 days ago.
"Our agreement, despite all challenges, reflects that we are keen on the interests of our Palestinian people. We expect from the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his cabinet to be obliged with the map and not disrupt the path for internal political and electoral reasons."
Under the roadmap, Israel and Hamas are supposed to halt fighting, and a Palestinian transitional administration is to take control of administration and security, as the Israeli military withdraws.
The weapons handed over by Hamas under international supervision would remain under Palestinian control, but Israel rejects this and insists that the weapons be removed from Palestinian territory.
Hamas has said the surrender of heavy weapons is conditional on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
As both sides double down on their demands, Hamed Al-Aila, a Palestinian man in Gaza City, says Mr Netanyahu's rejection of the plan comes as a significant disappointment.
"We were shocked Netanyahu's rejection of Trump's plan on which we built hope to end the war, killing, destruction, siege on us... we want the war to end, for the suffering of Gaza to end, the killing, strikes, displacement, everyday there are assassinations, everyday there are injured and killed people. We want to live like the rest of people, live like people do in other countries."
Gaza health officials say since the US-mediated ceasefire was reached in October 2025, more than 1,250 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, and Israeli officials say four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza in this time.
As hopes for an imminent agreement on a peace plan falter, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency is reporting three Israeli attacks have taken place in southern Lebanon.
And elsewhere in the Middle East, Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it won't reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets Tehran's demands.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier said discussions with Oman over transit and management of the strait were "approaching the final stages," but conditions apply.
"The old routes will be replaced with new ones. Experts are currently working on the maps. This, however, does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened. An agreement on the routes may be reached, but reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on a separate set of conditions being met, and those conditions are being conveyed through intermediaries."
Iran set preconditions for a reopening of the Strait over the weekend, including compensation for war damages, complicating a potential deal to open the strategic waterway.
Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait since the US and Israel initiated attacks in late February, and says it plans to charge tolls for passage.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday [[09 August]] he was taking, in his words, a low-key approach to Tehran, suggesting he believed he could wait for Iran to back down as economic pressure mounts.
Continued attacks in the strait, which was free to transit before the war, led to the collapse of an April ceasefire, and mediators have since urged both sides to return to the terms of a June memorandum.
