Times of Israel
Ministers and security chiefs discussed yesterday how to impede recent US-backed Board of Peace moves to go ahead with a roadmap for postwar Gaza against which Jerusalem is vehemently opposed.
While the security cabinet approved having an International Stabilization Force enter Gaza to disarm Hamas and assume control of the territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel did not agree to the terms of the disarmament plan, which was accepted by the terror group last week.
Some ministers have publicly urged the premier to openly declare that he will not abide by the terms.
‘Hamas agreed to the 15-point plan, but hasn’t abandoned the vision of destroying Israel,’ warned Brig. Gen. Ofir Mizrahi-Rozen, head of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate’s Research Department, according to the Israel Hayom daily.
‘It is apparent that there is a Hamas effort to put the ball in our court,’ he added, warning of internationalizing the conflict by placing foreign forces, including from hostile states such as Turkey and Qatar, close to Israeli border towns.
Shin Bet chief David Zini reportedly said that Hamas signing the agreement ‘is a process of strategic deception aimed at buying time and ensuring we don’t return to [military] action in Gaza before the [October 27] election.’
‘This is a strategic ambush by Hamas,’ he asserted, according to the report.
According to the Ynet news site, Zini also said Hamas views the roadmap signing as a ‘diplomatic October 7,’ equivalent to the military success of the 2023 invasion.
The Israel Hayom report adds that National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra said Israel has handed the US a list of corrections it is demanding to the roadmap, and that Netanyahu has said the roadmap contradicts November 2025 understandings reached with Washington.
He added that there is great pressure on Israel to withdraw to the original Yellow Line set last year — handing Israel control of 52 percent of the Strip, which it has since expanded to 70% — and to stop targeted strikes on terror officials.
Minister Ze’ev Elkin is quoted as calling for Israel to resume operations in Gaza in a way that makes clear that it does not accept the recent developments, which include a near-total 14-day freeze on military operations and strikes.
‘If Israel doesn’t carry out offensive action for two weeks, the meaning is that we have accepted and entered the process. That’s why we need to demonstrate that we are not signing on to these 15 points,’ Elkin said.
Israel Hayom says ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strock and Avi Dichter backed this demand.
Smotrich is quoted telling Netanyahu: ‘You are a master at maneuvering, but now that there is an official document, we must delegitimize this document. We can’t maneuver.’