Israel objects to US-backed Gaza plan

AFP | Jerusalem

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Israel voiced objections yesterday over a plan promoted by President Donald Trump to end the Gaza war, with a cabinet member seeking to tear it up, defying pressure to end strikes and begin pulling forces from the Palestinian territory.

It was the latest sign of disconnect between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election fight in October and has heavily promoted his relationship with the US leader, whom he met again in Washington last week.

Netanyahu's office demanded "verifiable" disarmament by Hamas, which on Friday announced it would give up weapons under the Trump plan to a nascent Palestinian governing committee.

"Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel's positions," Doron Spielman, spokesman for the prime minister's office, told AFP.

Incensing Netanyahu's hard-right allies -- upon whom his coalition depends -- the latest document released by the Board of Peace, the Trump-backed group in charge of implementing a Gaza plan, called for Israel to cease military operations "without delay" and lays out a "phased withdrawal" from the territory.

Saying that such language was "completely different" from what Israel understood, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and a colleague demanded that Netanyahu's security cabinet "immediately" hold a new vote on the Gaza plan.

Israel still controls some 60 percent of the territory despite a ceasefire declared in October. An Israeli political source told AFP that Israel "will not retreat" from its current position in the Gaza Strip.

Several Israeli media reports said that Netanyahu met Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace.