Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza peace plan, says Israel will ‘stand our ground’

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has openly rejected a US-backed peace plan for Gaza, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s claims of a diplomatic breakthrough. The plan, a 15-point proposal from the so-called Board of Peace—an international body created by Trump—was meant to sequence the phased disarmament of Hamas alongside an Israeli military withdrawal. But on Sunday, Netanyahu dismissed the proposal outright, yielding to pressure from far-right members of his coalition. In a direct message to the White House, Netanyahu said: “We know how to stand our ground, even against our best friends when necessary.” He also mocked what he called “a wave of rumours of Israeli withdrawals on all fronts.” The rejection follows Trump’s late-July announcement that a “monumental” deal had been struck. Within three days, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 more people in Gaza, underscoring the gap between Trump’s rhetoric and the situation on the ground. Analysts say the latest move shows Netanyahu has little interest in a deal and that real relief for Gaza will require genuine pressure from Washington—not just public declarations. The Board of Peace, already seen as increasingly ineffective, now faces a major credibility test as its central proposal has been publicly dismissed by the Israeli leader.