Family says moving to Phase Two violates promises President Trump made to them in person.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The parents of St. Sgt. Rani Gvili condemned Saturday night US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his Board of Peace, which signals the transition to the second stage of his peace plan for Gaza while their son’s body still remains hostage in the Strip.

“How is it possible to think about Phase Two?” Talik and Itzik Gvili wrote. “What kind of peace are we talking about? Whose peace? Peace for those who refuse to return our son to us even though they are bound by the agreement, despite the promises from Israel, the mediators, and the president of the United States?”

Speaking after a personal meeting with Trump at his Florida estate three weeks ago, Itzik Gvili said the president had explicitly pledged that their son would be returned before any progress was made.

“Until Rani comes back, there will be no reconstruction in Gaza,” he recalled Trump promising. “Hamas must disarm — which probably won’t happen — but he said it. If Rani doesn’t return, nothing will move forward.”

In a Truth Social post announcing the formal launch of Phase Two, Trump wrote that the next stage “will secure a comprehensive disarmament agreement with Hamas, including the surrender of all weapons and the dismantling of every tunnel,” and added that “Hamas must immediately honor its commitments, including the return of the last body to Israel.”

The Gvilis now expressed doubt that the commitment would be enforced, saying, “We feel that the US is rushing to rebuild Gaza without obliging Hamas to fulfill its part of the agreement,” and that they were relying on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to continue to insist on Rani’s return” and maintain a firm stance toward Washington.

More broadly, they warned that concessions to Hamas carry national consequences.

“This tolerance for a terrorist organization begins with giving up Rani and will continue with Hamas remaining armed and dangerous. Whoever gives up Rani also gives up the security of the entire State of Israel,” they wrote.

Under the first stage of the 20-point Gaza framework, all hostages were to be returned to Israel in exchange for large-scale humanitarian aid and the release of more than 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners.

Senior Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly stated that Israel will not proceed to the next phase until this obligation is fully met.

Gvili was killed while defending Kibbutz Alumim during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in a fierce firefight with Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists. His body was taken into Gaza and remains the last Israeli hostage not returned.

Israeli officials say they know that PIJ operatives are aware of the location of Gvili’s remains and that Israel has provided detailed intelligence to mediators “multiple times,” without result.

“As a father and mother, we appeal to everyone involved: Do not allow this to happen,” the Gvilis pleaded. “Do not leave our Rani behind and bury us together with him.”

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The family urged maximum pressure on Hamas ahead of Gaza deal’s next stage.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump met Monday with the family of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains the last Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip, and told them that securing its return is a priority for his administration.

“We asked President Trump that just as he returned all the hostages, we also want our Rani home,” the family said in a statement afterward. “We begged him to use all the levers of pressure on Hamas. It is impossible to move to Phase 2 without Hamas playing its full part.”

Phase 1 of the US-brokered cease-fire agreement signed in October required Hamas to release all living and murdered hostages in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to revised lines that left the terror group in control of roughly 47% of Gaza, along with a sharp increase in humanitarian aid.

Israel has fully complied, with an average of 600-800 trucks of aid entering Gaza daily since the deal was signed.

Under Phase 2, Hamas is expected to disarm under the supervision of an international stabilization force, a technocratic civilian administration excluding the terror group is to be established, and reconstruction is to begin, alongside a further Israeli withdrawal from most of the enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed the Gvili family’s position, repeatedly stating that Israel will not advance to the next phase until Hamas fully complies with its initial commitments.

Israeli officials have also stated that they believe the terrorists know the location of Gvili’s remains and are simply stalling.

Asked at a joint press conference with Netanyahu prior to their meeting on Gaza as well as Iran, Trump ducked when asked whether he could “guarantee” that Gvili’s body would be returned before Phase 2 begins.

“We have one wonderful young man whose parents are right now inside,” he answered, calling them and Gvili’s three siblings who had flown in for the meeting “a beautiful family.”

“We’re doing everything we can to get his body back,” he said.

“We received an attentive ear and a willing heart from both leaders,” the family’s statement confirmed.

Earlier Monday, the Gvilis met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

In a statement released through the Tikva Forum of hostage families, they described the meeting as “very positive,” saying the Americans emphasized that “the return of Ran is of great importance to President Trump” and that “significant efforts are being made to bring him home.”

Trump has said in recent weeks that he expects Phase 2 to begin “soon,” but on Monday he also warned Hamas that they would have “hell to pay” if they fail to disarm, asserting Israel’s right to enforce demilitarization militarily if necessary.

Hamas leaders, however, have repeatedly declared that they will not relinquish their weapons to any authority short of a sovereign Palestinian state, casting serious doubt on the feasibility of the Trump-led vision for a postwar, rehabilitated Gaza.

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The terrorists are probing soldiers’ alertness and preparing for escalation, the army says.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The IDF is preparing for renewed fighting in Gaza as Hamas continues to test the permeability of the Yellow Line that separates Israeli- and Hamas-held areas of the Strip, Walla reported Thursday.

The army has recorded 42 infiltration attempts along the de facto border since the beginning of November — an average of one per day.

Most of the incidents have taken place in the southern Strip, particularly around Khan Yunis.

Some terrorists were killed after opening fire on Israeli troops, while others were stopped before they could attack.

The IDF said Hamas has also been sending innocent civilians across the line in exchange for money, in order to test soldiers’ alertness, gather intelligence on response times, and plant explosive devices.

These attempts come in addition to sporadic clashes with terrorists emerging from tunnels to ambush troops on patrol or during operations.

“Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are looking for opportunities to attack forces and carry out attacks, and beyond that, they are preparing for escalation,” Southern Command sources told Walla. “This situation requires us to be constantly alert and to respond very quickly from the ground or from the air.”

“The forces must analyze the area, break routine and prepare anew each time so that the enemy does not understand how the IDF operates in the field,” they added.

All these violations of the cease-fire agreement signed on Oct. 10 “are further proof that [Hamas] is rehabilitating itself militarily,” reserve officers in the Gaza Division told the news outlet, and that “the goals of the war have not been achieved.”

The army sources warned that “the current situation cannot last much longer, and at this rate the IDF will have to attack … the territory held by Hamas.”

Under the U.S.-brokered peace plan, the second stage — following the return of all hostages — calls for Hamas’ disarmament, the destruction of its infrastructure, and the installation of a substitute civilian government in Gaza.

A multinational stabilization force and a Board of Peace are supposed to oversee the process, but no country has expressed willingness to confront Hamas over its weapons.

Hamas officials have repeatedly stated that the organization will surrender arms only to an officially recognized Palestinian state.

With both Washington and Jerusalem insisting that disarmament is essential, the minor-sounding attack the IDF is now warning about could be a precursor to forcing Hamas’ demilitarization “the hard way,” as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put it.

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Jerusalem rejects Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s “lie” that it does not possess Ran Gvili’s remains.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israel has supplied information to mediators on how to locate the last hostage’s body in Gaza, in a sharp rebuttal to the terrorists who claim they do not possess it, Ynet reported Wednesday.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Iranian-backed Gaza proxy allied with Hamas, claimed Tuesday that it had returned all the hostages it held after transferring the body of Thai worker Sudthisak Rinthalak last week.

PIJ had kidnapped the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili after its gunmen killed him in a firefight at Kibbutz Alumim during the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, the coordinator for the hostages and the missing in the Prime Minister’s Office, provided mediators with aerial photos of the area where the IDF believes Gvili can be found, the names of individuals likely to know the body’s location, and other relevant intelligence, an Israeli source told Ynet.

The mediators received “a strong message” from the Israeli side, the source said. “There is someone in the Islamic Jihad organization who knows where Rani is…. We will not give up until Rani is buried in Israel.”

The PIJ claim “is a lie,” the source added, and Israel “resolutely” rejects it.

Senior officials in Qatar – the primary negotiators with Hamas during hostage negotiations throughout the War of Revival – have demanded that Israel move on to the second stage of the Trump peace plan.

Jerusalem, however, remains adamant that no actions regarding the future governance of the Gaza Strip will proceed until Stage 1 is complete.

The first phase required the return of all remaining hostages within 72 hours of the Oct. 10 cease-fire agreement.

The issue of Gvili’s return “is not a tactical event,” the source said. “It is a significant event in the implementation of the agreement…. Hamas is obligated to return all the fallen…. We will not give up, we will not compromise, and we will not stop demanding Rani’s return in any way.”

Eager to start Stage 2, the Americans are reportedly urging mediators to use their influence in Gaza to locate Gvili.

At an event at the National Library of Israel Tuesday night, American Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sounded a positive note, saying, “I hope that the last kidnapped person will be brought to Israel in the next 24 or 48 hours.”

As part of his visit to Israel this week, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz met Monday with Gvili’s parents.

He “expressed the United States’ commitment – and his own – to completing the mission of returning the hostages and bringing Rani, of blessed memory, to a burial in Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on the meeting.

President Donald Trump has said he hopes to move to the next phase of the peace plan by late December or early January.

Gvili’s parents have repeatedly expressed fear that their son would be left behind, as happened to the family of fallen soldier Hadar Goldin, whose body was held by Hamas for 11 years after 2014’s Operation Protective Edge and returned only last month under the current cease-fire deal.

Despite the PIJ claim, Hamas and Red Cross representatives were seen Tuesday allegedly searching for Gvili’s body in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

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“They had a problem today, I understand, with a bomb that went off and hurt some people pretty badly.”

By World Israel News Staff

Soon after Hamas carried out yet another serious ceasefire violation in eastern Rafah on Wednesday, wounding four IDF soldiers including one critically, President Trump insisted that phase two of the ceasefire process is “moving along nicely.”

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked when he expects phase two of the Gaza peace plan to be implemented. He responded, “Well, it’s going along well. You know, they had a problem today, I understand, with a bomb that went off and hurt some people pretty badly, probably killed some people.” He then added, “But we have peace in the Middle East. People don’t realize it. We have tremendous support, 59 countries. Phase Two is moving along. It’s going to happen pretty soon.”

Trump’s comments came only hours after Hamas terrorists surfaced from a tunnel, fired on IDF troops, and launched an RPG at an armored vehicle. Israeli forces returned fire and later carried out airstrikes in Khan Younis and Gaza City in response.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Hamas, calling the attack yet another blatant violation and saying he wishes a swift recovery to Israel’s “heroic fighters.” He stressed that “Israel will not tolerate harm to IDF soldiers and will respond accordingly.”

According to preliminary Palestinian reports, at least five Palestinians were killed in the Israeli strikes.

Hamas continues to violate the ceasefire agreement repeatedly, threatening IDF troops with ongoing attempts to carry out attacks and still holding the remains of officer Ran Gvili, the final hostage in Gaza.

The return of all hostages is supposed to be the core requirement of phase one, yet Hamas continues to exploit the situation while Trump is seemingly minimizing the severity of the violations in order to preserve the perception of “peace in the Middle East.”

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The excessive aid will help Hamas regroup, the army warns, endangering efforts to bring peace to the area.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Gaza Strip has been inundated with food and fuel since the Israel-Hamas cease-fire was declared six weeks ago, and this will lead to the rejuvenation of the terrorist organization, IDF sources told Walla on Wednesday.

On average, 83 tons of gas and 82,000 gallons of diesel are trucked into Gaza each day.

“The Palestinians are the ones who determine the volume of diesel and gas that enters,” a military source told Walla. “In addition, the transfer depends on the Egyptians, who send drivers and tankers from Egypt.”

“But the worst thing about this whole story is that they no longer have storage space, and in the past week, more than once, they returned full tankers to Israel because they did not have the capacity to store [it].”

In addition, 600 trucks full of humanitarian aid enter Gaza every day after being checked for contraband by Israeli security, according to figures provided by the Operations Division of the General Staff.

This amount of aid is “disproportionate,” the source noted, with the volume of goods “not only above local consumption” but – like the fuel – it is “above their ability to store the aid in a reasonable manner.”

There is so much food that their distribution centers have been closed, the report said.

Video evidence is abundant online of the profusion of goods in Gazan marketplaces and even the ready availability of such luxury items as golden iPhones in the area where Israel was allegedly starving people to death.

The IDF sources said that the huge inflow is a result of international and American pressure on Israel, but its end result will harm rather than help the UN-backed Trump plan to demilitarize the Strip in order to bring peace to the region.

This is because all this aid will enable Hamas to survive “for a very long time in its underground networks even if the crossings are closed,” the report said.

While Hamas signed onto the American-brokered peace plan, which calls for it to give up its weapons and have nothing to do with governing the Strip, senior officials of the terrorist group have said repeatedly over recent weeks that they would not disarm.

Israel has insisted that if the international force envisioned in the plan to oversee Hamas’ disarmament does not materialize or refuses to carry out its task, the IDF will use all the force necessary to do the job as part of its responsibility to bring lasting security to Israel’s citizens.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the resolution, although it opens the door to Palestinian statehood.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The UN Security Council voted Monday 13-0 to adopt an updated version of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip, including the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to ensure its demilitarization.

Russia and China, which have veto rights in the council, abstained, allowing the measure to pass.

UNSC Resolution 2803 includes a commitment to disarm Hamas and destroy its terrorist infrastructure.

“Disarming Hamas is a fundamental condition,” said Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. “There will be no future in Gaza as long as Hamas possesses weapons.”

Israel has stated repeatedly that it will never allow Hamas to become a threat to its citizens’ safety again – and, if necessary, it will take on the demilitarization job itself.

In apparent agreement, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said, upon presenting the resolution, that “the path to prosperity requires security first. Security is the oxygen that governance and development need to live and thrive.”

According to the resolution, the IDF will withdraw from Gaza only the completion of “a verified demilitarization.”

As envisioned in the original plan, the resolution states that a Board of Peace will act as “a transitional administration” to oversee the ISF and reconstruction efforts and support a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” responsible for the day-to-day governance of the coastal enclave.

While the board will be led by Trump, who said it will include “the most powerful and respected leaders throughout the world,” it is intended to be temporary, working only until the Palestinian Authority (PA) can take over.

This is contingent on the PA carrying out “key reforms,” Waltz said, without giving details. These reforms, according to the resolution, would lead to “a credible pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Israeli officials called this language “problematic,” but the Americans refused to delete it from the text.

All senior members of the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have firmly vetoed the idea of the establishment of a Palestinian state in west of the Jordan River, calling it a very real threat to the country’s security.

“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any part of this territory has not changed in the slightest,” Netanyahu reaffirmed Sunday.

The prime minister ignored this point in the resolution when he congratulated Trump on Tuesday for getting the measure passed, focusing instead on what he views as the positive aspects.

“We believe that [Trump’s] plan will bring peace and prosperity due to its insistence on the full demilitarization of Gaza, disarmament, and deradicalization,” as well as triggering broader regional integration by way of Arab countries joining the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu said.

He called on “all our neighbors … to normalize relations with us and join us in expelling Hamas and its supporters from the region.”

Applauding the vote on his Truth Social platform, Trump called it “a moment of true historic proportion” and “one of the biggest approvals in the history of the United Nations” – one that would “lead to further peace all over the world.”

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Hamas is regaining strength amid a deadlock on establishing a postwar international force, an Israeli official said.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration is reportedly considering dropping its demand that Hamas officially disarm before reconstruction of the Gaza Strip begins, sparking concern among Israeli officials, according to Hebrew-language Channel 13 News.

The United States is said to be prepared to move forward with its plan to rebuild Gaza even as Hamas delays fulfilling its ceasefire obligations, which include returning all deceased hostages and surrendering its weapons.

Washington has reportedly determined that it will face significant challenges recruiting allies to forcibly disarm Hamas and is therefore ready to concede on that requirement in order to advance the peace plan and facilitate reconstruction.

Leaving Hamas armed and in de facto control of the Strip is totally unacceptable to Jerusalem, a senior Israeli official, speaking anonymously, told the outlet.

Currently, Hamas is taking advantage of a “deadlock” in negotiations over creating an international force to govern postwar Gaza, using the stalemate to regroup and reassert control over wide areas of the Strip, the official explained.

“This interim situation is the worst there is,” the Israeli source said. “Hamas has been strengthening in recent weeks since the end of the war.”

The official stressed that allowing reconstruction to proceed while Hamas maintains its weapons would directly contradict the terms of the ceasefire signed by Israel.

“There can be no rehabilitation before demilitarization. It is contrary to Trump’s plan. Gaza must be demilitarized,” the source emphasized.

The U.S. has promoted the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), under which thousands of troops from Muslim countries would be deployed to Gaza.

However, several influential Arab leaders — including from the Emirates and Jordan — have indicated they are not willing to engage in a military confrontation with Hamas.

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Hamas understands that the fight has moved from the military to the political sphere and sees Gaza’s reconstruction—estimated at $70 billion—as the main source of power over the Gaza Strip.

By David Isaac, JNS

Even before phase 1 of the ceasefire plan has ended, Hamas is trying to influence the outcome of phase 2.

It has drawn up a list of its candidates to serve on the technocratic entity that is supposed to rule in Gaza according to the 20-point plan to which Hamas and Israel agreed.

Hamas is secretly signing off on the makeup of the technocratic government, choosing half of its composition, individuals “who support Hamas and the organization’s principles,” Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan News, reported on Oct. 21.

Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, chose the other half, according to the report.

Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum reacted sharply to the news. Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office told JNS during a press briefing on Tuesday that Israel wouldn’t tolerate a Hamas-led Gaza Strip.

“Let’s get something very clear. Let’s go back to the 20-point plan… part of the 20-point plan says Hamas will have no future inside of the Gaza Strip. Gaza will be demilitarized. Hamas will be disarmed,” said PMO spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian.

The name at the top of Hamas’s list of candidates is Amjad al-Shawa.

Al-Shawa is deputy commissioner-general of the “Independent Commission for Human Rights” (ICHR), a group set up in 1993 by Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. It is headquartered on Mother Teresa Street.

ICHR regularly collaborates with terror groups, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), according to Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor.

“Not only does ICHR have a history of ties with Hamas, the PFLP and PIJ terror groups, but the fact that their official is a Hamas favorite means Hamas by all accounts will continue to play a central role in postwar Gaza,” NGO Vice President Olga Deutsch told JNS.

Hamas understands that the fight has moved from the military to the political sphere and sees Gaza’s reconstruction—estimated at $70 billion—as the main source of power over the Gaza Strip.

Hamas wants to strategically place its loyalists in key administrative and coordination roles tied to reconstruction and aid, Deutsch explained.

“They understand that the aid, the reconstruction money, is exactly how they will keep themselves in power, even if they are disarmed,” she said.

Hamas is an old hand at weaponizing aid, having made a practice of it before its Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

“The question now is what Israel and the international community, led by the United States, intend to do differently to ensure that the next influx of aid doesn’t again fall under Hamas’s control,” said Deutsch.

Deutsch suggested that the U.S. administration draw a clear red line that neither Hamas nor its fellow travelers can be part of a post-war Gaza.

While the 20-point plan states unequivocally that “Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form,” saying so is clearly not enough as Hamas is already flouting that demand, she added.

The most important practical step is introducing “tighter vetting and control mechanisms,” said Deutsch.

Israel must establish strict approval procedures for organizations operating in Gaza. Europe has to maintain oversight to ensure funds it provides go to their intended purpose.

She also stressed the importance of penalties and consequences against the Palestinian side if it is found appointing Hamas members to positions of authority.

Without such sanctions—absent for decades—there won’t be any deterrence against Hamas infiltration.

As Europe is the largest donor bloc in the world, NGO Monitor has made the need for better vetting processes a focus of its work there.

Deutsch said there have been “awakenings” since Oct. 7, but that Europeans have been historically weak on the issue.

Sweden, one of the biggest funders of Palestinian NGOs, still doesn’t examine the social media accounts of individuals belonging to controversial groups, a failure that is “simply ridiculous,” she said.

European countries’ lack of interest in properly checking what Palestinians are actually doing is underscored by their eagerness to believe the Palestinian Authority when it says it has revoked its “pay-for-slay” program, which rewards terrorists for killing Jews, even though it is relatively easy to verify that those payments continue without pause.

There is a combination of reasons for this European willingness to forgive Palestinian malfeasance, she said.

For some, it’s an ideological issue, with the Palestinian “resistance” viewed as a political cause.

Governments also wish to avoid embarrassment. To admit that NGOs they had provided money to were engaged in nefarious activities would be an admission of negligence on their part.

Hovering above all is an anti-Zionist atmosphere prevalent in Europe, she said.

Deutsch cautioned that ensuring Hamas figures remain outside Gaza’s governing bodies is only the start.

The challenge extends far beyond Hamas, as all Palestinian groups seek the elimination of Israel.

“The leadership might not be called Hamas. It will be called something else. But it will still embody the same Jew hatred focused on denying Israel’s right to exist,” she said.

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IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland’s list includes: No Gazans behind the Yellow Line, where the IDF will stay until Hamas is fully disarmed, and tough sanctions for every cease-fire violation.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

One of Israel’s foremost national security experts outlined four necessary actions that would ensure the war in Gaza ends in a Hamas defeat in a Walla article Monday.

IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland wrote that Israel should have already evacuated all Gazans from behind the Yellow Line, to which the IDF withdrew 10 days ago upon Hamas’ agreement to the 20-point American peace plan.

“The No. 1 principle of 21^st-century wars,” he wrote, is that “military control of territory that contains a hostile population has more disadvantages than advantages. When there is a hostile population, there will always be terrorists among them, and when there are terrorists in close proximity and in high friction with our forces, there will also be many attempted attacks.”

This has already been proven the case, as IDF troops have come under fire several times from terrorists emerging from tunnel shafts near them, so far killing two soldiers and wounding three.

The second necessary step is to respond to every violation of the agreement with severe sanctions.

These, he argued without going into detail, should be civilian in nature rather than military, as they are “more painful.”

So far, the IDF has only responded to Hamas assaults by targeting military sites and terror tunnels.

The IDF must also prepare its positions on the Yellow Line as if they were now markers of a new, permanent border, according to Eiland.

“Human life is worth nothing” to Arab leaders, he noted, “but land is forever sacred. The more Hamas feels that avoiding moving to Phase II of the agreement will perpetuate the loss of the eastern half of the Gaza Strip, the better.”

In Phase II, Hamas is supposed to hand over all its weapons to the international force that will oversee Gazan security for the foreseeable future.

Several of Hamas’ top officials have already declared that the terror group would never hand in its weapons to any authority short of a Palestinian state.

These military outposts, he added, must be built with combat positions that can be manned even during a massive rocket attack – unlike the IDF bases on the Gazan border before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion.

The fourth requirement is political in nature rather than military.

Jerusalem must remain firm in the face of any and all international pressure to withdraw from the Yellow Line before Phase II is completely implemented, he wrote, including that of the United States.

Eiland is a former head of the Israeli National Security Council and senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies, and the lead author of the “Generals’ Plan,” which proposed a year ago evacuating all of northern Gaza of civilians and placing a full blockade on the area to force Hamas to surrender without needlessly losing Israeli soldiers in battle.

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The Gulf states argue that the mediators, particularly Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, have failed to hold Hamas accountable.

By World Israel News Staff

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have warned that the Trump-backed effort to end the Gaza war is on the verge of collapse, accusing mediators of being too soft on Hamas, Israel Hayom reported Thursday.

Arab and U.S. diplomatic sources told the paper that the Gulf states sent urgent messages to the White House and to Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, warning that unless Washington enforces the plan’s disarmament clause, they will scale back participation.

The warnings cite Hamas’s conduct since the ceasefire began — including assassinations of rivals, armed parades, and public defiance of disarmament demands.

The Gulf states argue that the mediators, particularly Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, have failed to hold Hamas accountable.

A Saudi official told Israel Hayom that Riyadh has made its position clear: “There can be no solution for Gaza, or for the Palestinians in general, as long as Hamas remains part of the equation.” He said Hamas’s “resistance” has brought “a catastrophe even worse than the Nakba.”

The Saudis reportedly informed the U.S. that they are downgrading their role in implementing the Trump plan and may boycott next month’s reconstruction conference in Egypt.

The UAE conveyed a similar message, saying it would continue rebuilding only in areas under Israeli security control — and only once Hamas is fully disarmed and international forces assume authority.

The rift was underscored when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed skipped last week’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit, hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

According to Israel Hayom, their absence reflected anger at Qatar’s growing influence despite its ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Although the Saudis did not mention Qatar by name, they warned against empowering “countries that destabilize the region.” One senior Gulf diplomat said “Trump speaks of ending terror and hatred, yet his team is elevating those who fund it.”

Analyst Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs warned that without firm U.S. backing for Israel’s enforcement, “the Gaza plan could be reduced to a hostage deal.” He added that Hamas will never disarm voluntarily and that only the IDF can guarantee demilitarization.

A senior Israeli official said Jerusalem, together with Washington and mediators, is pressing Hamas to return the bodies of hostages still held in Gaza, with intelligence shared to complete the operation.

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Officials said the strategy envisions the destruction of Hamas’ underground tunnels, command centers, and remaining military capabilities.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a sweeping plan to “defeat Hamas” if the war in Gaza resumes.

The order followed a meeting with top military commanders, signaling that Israel views the current truce as temporary and conditional.

Katz said the new plan would go into effect if Hamas fails to meet the terms of the U.S.-brokered deal, which includes the “return of all hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’ military power.”

Officials said the strategy envisions the destruction of Hamas’ underground tunnels, command centers, and remaining military capabilities. The goal, Katz explained, is to ensure that “Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel’s security.”

The defense minister emphasized that the plan is not about revenge but about Israel’s right to self-defense. “We will not allow Hamas to recover or rebuild,” he said, adding that Israel is ready to act “if Hamas violates the ceasefire or refuses to comply.”

The policy ties directly into the fragile truce shaped by President Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Under that framework, Hamas was required to release all hostages and accept Gaza’s demilitarization, while an international stabilization force would oversee reconstruction and security.

Israel sees that arrangement as hanging by a thread. Hamas has been accused of failing to return some of the bodies of hostages and of continuing to smuggle weapons into Gaza during the pause.

The controversy deepened after Israel said one of the bodies returned by Hamas was not that of a hostage but of an unrelated Gazan. That revelation fueled anger and mistrust, with Israeli officials warning that patience is running out.

Meanwhile, reports from Gaza suggest Hamas is tightening control over local clans and suppressing dissent to reassert dominance.

Western intelligence assessments indicate the group has been rebuilding some of its internal command structure under cover of the ceasefire.

If the truce collapses, Israel is expected to move quickly to eliminate what remains of Hamas’ fighting force.

Military sources say the campaign would combine aerial bombardments, targeted ground incursions, and coordination with international partners to stabilize the area once fighting ends.

Such an escalation would carry major risks, including renewed civilian casualties, regional unrest, and growing international criticism. Yet Israeli leaders appear willing to face those costs, insisting that leaving Hamas in power would guarantee future wars.

For now, Israel remains publicly committed to the ceasefire. But Katz’s message was clear: “If Hamas does not fulfill its obligations, the IDF will act to ensure Israel’s victory.”

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Two key achievements were no full IDF withdrawal from the Strip and Hamas’ complete disarmament.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his meetings with President Trump and his team just before its release led to changes aligning the plan more closely with Israel’s positions.

“Instead of Hamas isolating us, we turned things around and isolated Hamas,” he said.

“Now the whole world, including the Arab and Muslim world, is pressuring Hamas to accept the conditions that we set together with President Trump – to release all of our hostages, both living and dead, while the IDF remains in most of the Strip.”

“Who would have believed it?” he added.

Hamas had insisted from the very beginning of negotiations that an end to the war meant that the IDF had to withdraw from every inch of the Gaza Strip, and the initial version of the proposal had been vague regarding where the line of withdrawal would be.

The published plan says: “Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed-upon line,” with the accompanying map showing three progressive lines of withdrawal.

The initial retreat, in exchange for the release of all the hostages, shows the IDF in control of slightly less than half the Strip.

These battle lines “will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal,” Point 3 of the plan states.

These conditions are outlined in Points 15 and 16.

The first describes how an International Stabilization Force (ISF) will be established in all areas cleared of Israeli forces, to provide “long-term internal security,” help secure border areas and prevent the inflow of weaponry.

The second says that “as the ISF establishes control and stability, the IDF will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States.”

There are no deadlines in the plan regarding the ISF gaining security control or ensuring Hamas’ demilitarization, which had been a key Israeli precondition to ending the war but one that Hamas officials have rejected, both before and after being presented with the plan.

This leaves the possibility of the IDF staying well inside Gaza for a lengthy period of time, as even the next line of control shown on the map “when ISF mobilized per standards set” leaves the Israeli army ensconced in over a third of the Strip.

Even when the ISF is fully established, the map shows that after a third withdrawal there will be a “security buffer zone” around the entire enclave, including the critical southern border through which Hamas smuggled in tons of weapons, tunnel-building materials and explosives for well over a decade.

That “security perimeter presence” of the IDF “will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat,” the plan now states.

These changes have become the Americans’ final position, with no alterations possible, according to a report Wednesday in The Jerusalem Post, which cited a “senior Israeli official” as its source.

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While officially saying it will examine the proposal “in good faith,” the group is striking a different tone in Arab media.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Hamas’ official response to the Gaza peace plan unveiled Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was that the terror group “will examine it in good faith.”

In Arab-language media, however, its message was markedly different.

In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi dismissed the proposal as being “close to the Israeli position.”

He rejected clauses requiring Hamas to “decommission” its weapons and dismantle “all military, terror and offensive infrastructure,” saying: “The weapons of resistance were not used to attack anyone but were intended for freedom and independence.”

“What happened is an attempt to stifle the international momentum and recognition of the Palestinian state,” he continued. “We will not accept any proposal that does not include determining the fate of the Palestinian people and protecting them from massacre.”

The plan envisions the Palestinian Authority “securely and effectively taking back control of Gaza” and talks of “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” but only if the Palestinian Authority first undergoes sweeping reforms.

Although Mardawi added that Hamas “will examine” the plan and “discuss it with Palestinian factions,” the group has projected a rejectionist stance through its tightly controlled media.

As translated by Abu Ali Express, Wesam Afifa, a Gaza-based analyst and self-described expert on strategic affairs, wrote Tuesday, “Trump’s plan forces Hamas, the resistance and the Palestinian people to prepay the bill while exempting the occupation from any payment.”

Afifa has consistently praised Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war, and has glorified what he calls the “steadfastness of the Palestinian people” in the face of “brutal oppression.”

Another analyst, Khalil abed a-Rahman, called the plan “full compliance with the demands of Netanyahu and his fascistic government.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a much smaller Gazan terror group that is fighting alongside Hamas and is directly controlled by Iran, did not try to finesse its response.

“What was announced at the press conference between Trump and Netanyahu is an American-Israeli agreement that reflects Israel’s full position, and constitutes a recipe for continuing the attack against the Palestinian people,” PIJ chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah said.

“Through the U.S., Israel is trying to impose what it failed to achieve on the battlefield, and therefore, in our view, this plan will lead to a regional explosion.”

The post Hamas blasts Trump peace plan despite pledging review appeared first on World Israel News.

Arab countries have also suggested amendments to the work in progress.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

U.S. President Donald Trump is touting his 21-point plan as the way to end the war in Gaza and said he expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to it in their meeting Monday.

But the proposal seems to be more of a work in progress, with all sides, including Israel, voicing hesitations and suggesting amendments.

One major point of the plan is the expectation that the U.S., togther with Palestinian technocrats unaffiliated with Hamas, will administer Gaza until the Palestinian Authority (PA) completes a reform program.

The PA would then gradually take over governance, with Israel agreeing that a reformed PA could become a state.

Netanyahu has said repeatedly that the PA is a terror-supporting entity, pointing especially to its “pay for slay” policy of financially supporting imprisoned terrorists and the families of those killed while attacking Israelis.

In a Fox News interview Sunday, Netanyahu said he does not believe the PA would “completely change its stripes,” abandon the policy, and “teach its children to embrace coexistence and friendship with the Jewish state rather than living their lives ready to annihilate us.”

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said.

In his UN speech Friday, the prime minister rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, saying, “Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11. This is sheer madness, it is insane, and we won’t do it.”

Another contentious point for many Israelis is a proposed international security coordination framework for Gaza that includes moderate Arab countries and the U.S. Netanyahu has said that only Israel can be in charge of security at the Gaza borders.

The Tikva Forum of Hostage Families said Sunday that the IDF must maintain a constant presence along the Philadelphi Corridor and at the Rafah crossing to prevent arms smuggling.

As in Lebanon today, the group said, the IDF must also have full freedom of action to enter Gaza to preemptively stop terror activity.

According to a Ynet report Sunday, Netanyahu also called the clause on Hamas’ disarmament “absurd” and insufficient, as is the definition of the “offensive weapons” that must be dismantled.

The Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported Saturday that Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan also disagree on certain points and have proposed amendments.

These include a demand for Hamas to lay down its arms rather than dismantle all military capabilities and that, while management of Gaza should remain in “technocratic” Palestinian hands, the PA should play a role from the start.

Also, they say, an international council would “oversee” the process rather than directly manage government services.

The Arab countries have also suggested deploying international forces along the borders instead of granting Israel sole control.

The post Israel resists key points in Trump’s Gaza peace plan appeared first on World Israel News.

Documents found in Gaza show a Hamas-Qatar plot to derail U.S. diplomacy, sabotage Trump-brokered plan for two-state solution.

By World Israel News Staff

Senior Hamas officials conspired with the Qatari government to sabotage President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”

The Trump proposal would have secured a long-term truce between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as ushered in normalization between Israel and other Arab countries.

Hamas documents discovered by IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip revealed that Qatari officials met with Hamas representatives in June 2019, with the discussions in the “emergency” sessions focused on ensuring that Trump’s plan would not come to fruition, Hebrew-language outlet Channel 12 reported.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani spoke with Hamas leaders in Doha, including Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal.

After Al Thani expressed concerns that Saudi Arabia would agree to normalize relations with Israel, Mashaal replied that “we need to cooperate in order to resist the ‘Deal of the Century and thwart it.”

The Deal of the Century, which was formally titled “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” included a framework for a two-state solution.

The deal would have granted the Palestinians some 70 percent of the territory of Judea and Samaria, excluding Jewish communities in the region, along with portions of the Negev desert.

The proposal also included generous financial support from the U.S., via billions of dollars in investment in a newly-founded independent Palestinian state.

In December 2019, then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised Al Thani for Qatar’s ongoing funding for the terror group.

“The Qatari grants are Hamas’s main artery,” Haniyeh reportedly told the Qatari leader.

Since the outbreak of the October 7th war, Qatar has claimed to be a neutral mediator in ongoing discussions aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

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