Israel Maintains Military Presence in Gaza Amid Disputes Over Disarmament Deal with Hamas

Following a day without Israeli strikes in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed attacks on Monday evening, targeting a vehicle in the Gaza Strip and reportedly killing two militants. This occurred amid ongoing operations against militants who infiltrated Israel on October 7 and held hostages. Senior IDF officials denied receiving orders to halt fire, despite diplomatic efforts led by Nikolay Mladenov, head of the UN Peace Council, who requested a two-week ceasefire to finalize agreements with Hamas. Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey jointly condemned Israel's continued military actions in Gaza, calling for pressure on Israel to fulfill its commitments.

Behind the scenes, there is a dispute over whether Israel should withdraw as part of the agreement with Hamas and to what extent. The deal envisions a gradual disarmament of Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, coupled with a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Initially, the IDF is to pull back to the "yellow line" established in the first hostage deal, after having expanded control to about 70% of Gaza. Some Israeli ministers, including Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strook, claimed the cabinet was presented with inaccurate information regarding the Gaza plan, arguing that the disarmament is a sham that merely transfers weapons to Palestinian authorities in Ramallah, who they say do not consider attacks on Israelis as crimes.

The UN Peace Council issued a statement following a meeting between Mladenov and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasizing a shared understanding of the goal: complete disarmament of Gaza and transition to civilian governance. The council clarified that any IDF withdrawal beyond the yellow line would only occur after Hamas fulfills its disarmament commitments, with implementation overseen by an international stabilization force and a verification committee including the US and the Peace Council. A senior Hamas source affirmed the group's commitment to the second phase of the agreement, awaiting formal confirmation from mediators.

A Peace Council official told Ynet that Netanyahu had been fully briefed on the plan weeks ago, contradicting claims by some ministers of misinformation. The official described the "yellow line" issue as semantics, stating the IDF currently holds that line and will withdraw only after Hamas disarms. Meanwhile, the IDF announced the killing of Mahmoud Fatair, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander involved in the October 7 attack and hostage-taking.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a "historic" agreement for Hamas's complete disarmament and Israeli withdrawal, but Hamas quickly rejected disarming before Israeli withdrawal. Israeli ministers criticized the deal as flawed and accused the US and mediators like Turkey and Qatar of altering the original terms, undermining the disarmament goal. Smotrich called to cancel the cabinet decision and block foreign forces from entering Gaza until the plan is corrected.