Israel has communicated serious security concerns to the White House regarding the proposed disarmament agreement with Hamas, an Israeli official said, as strikes overnight and into Sunday killed at least 17 people, including children, across Gaza.
The remarks came from Doron Spielman, spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, marking some of the first public comments from Israel since President Trump announced the deal. Spielman told the Associated Press that Israeli intelligence assessments indicate Hamas remains focused on rebuilding its military rather than genuinely disarming.
He said Israeli forces, which currently control more than 60% of Gaza, would not withdraw until Hamas has actually disarmed.
Spielman said Israel’s assessment is that redeploying before Hamas is truly disarmed would allow the group to quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its militant infrastructure, threaten Israeli communities once again, and potentially attempt another attack similar to October 7, referring to the 2023 Hamas assault that triggered the war. He insisted that disarmament means physically surrendering weapons, nothing less.
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The comments follow Hamas’s recent statement that it would begin disarming as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire signed nine months ago to end the nearly three-year conflict, a potential breakthrough though significant obstacles, conditions and lengthy timelines remain.
Trump’s broader 20-point ceasefire framework calls on Hamas to surrender its weapons and dismantle its extensive tunnel network. The plan also envisions an eventual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the installation of a new technocratic Palestinian government, deployment of an international security force, and reconstruction of the devastated territory.
Hamas’s disarmament has remained the central sticking point stalling negotiations for months. Announcing the deal on social media last Thursday, Trump said it would unfold in carefully structured phases.
According to a copy of the agreement obtained and verified by the AP, all weapons currently held by Hamas-run police will be handed over to a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic body known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza once it arrives in the territory, though the timeline remains unclear since it depends on other steps first being completed.
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A separate process to decommission and store heavy weapons, and to dismantle military production sites and tunnels, would begin only after that committee arrives and international forces deploy, tied to a phased Israeli withdrawal.
The areas of Gaza currently under Israeli control have largely been destroyed and emptied of residents, with most of the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians concentrated in the remaining area, where hundreds of thousands live in makeshift tent camps amid destroyed neighborhoods.
Israel appears unlikely to withdraw significant forces or make other major concessions ahead of October elections. Netanyahu faces a difficult reelection fight, with far-right coalition partners pressuring him to maintain pressure on Hamas and keep troops in Gaza, while opponents criticize him over failures surrounding the October 7, 2023 attack. That assault killed roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 others taken hostage.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 73,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the now-dissolved Hamas-run government, whose figures are generally regarded as reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations, though it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants; women and children are said to account for roughly half of all deaths.
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While Spielman said Israel deeply appreciates Trump’s commitment to its security and to finding a lasting resolution, he said the government’s position on disarmament rests on detailed intelligence indicating Hamas continues rearming, recruiting fighters and rebuilding military capacity. The White House did not offer additional comment Sunday when asked specifically about Israel’s assessment.
U.S. officials who briefed reporters on the disarmament agreement last week said Israel had been consulted throughout the negotiations and wasn’t being asked to do anything beyond what it had already committed to under the ceasefire and hostage release agreement signed last October. Exactly what Israel communicated to the White House remains unclear.
Two people with knowledge of the deal told the AP that Israel raised its concerns with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who serves on the Trump-led Board of Peace, with one source saying Israel sought continued freedom to conduct military operations within Gaza.
A separate source familiar with the matter said Israel also raised objections to Qatar and Turkey being involved in verifying the agreement’s stages, and requested that Hamas’s weapons be destroyed following confiscation rather than simply stored.
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Since the ceasefire took effect last October, Israel has continued conducting strikes in Gaza, saying it is targeting Hamas operatives and infrastructure.
Local hospitals reported at least 17 deaths, including children, in the most recent wave of strikes, with a strike on a residential building in southern Gaza killing three members of one family, including a four-year-old, according to Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought. The Israeli military said the strikes had targeted militant operatives.
