Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed doubts on Sunday that a multinational force, as described in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, would be able to disarm Hamas. At a meeting of Israel’s ambassadors in Jerusalem, the premier declared that Israel will take care of disabling the terror group if international efforts fail.
Despite a plea from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum that Israel not proceed with phase two of the plan before the body of the last hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, is returned, Netanyahu announced earlier on Sunday that the first phase is close to finished.
President Trump’s proposal, which took effect in late September, lays out a sequence in which Hamas relinquishes its weapons, Gaza’s administration shifts to a Palestinian technocratic authority, and an international force enters the territory as Israeli troops pull back. Israeli officials have said that progress depends on Hamas giving up its arsenal.
Netanyahu told the ambassadors that the International Stabilization Force called for in the proposal may not be able to disarm Hamas. “In the second phase, we are moving to disarmament and demilitarization,” he began. “We know that there are certain missions that this force could do,” he continued. “There are certain things they can’t do—maybe the main task they can’t do—but we will see.”
Implying that Israel will take the lead should the international force fail, Netanyahu declared, “We can do it the easy way or the hard way,” he said. “But in the end, it will be done.”
Ahead of the US-led international effort to stabilize Gaza, Israeli and Qatari officials attended a trilateral meeting on Sunday with special envoy Steve Witkoff, Axios reports.
The purpose of the meeting, which Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly attended, was to reestablish communication between Qatar and Israel after a September airstrike in Doha that was intended to assassinate Hamas leaders but failed.
Although Israel and Qatar do not have diplomatic relations, the Gulf nation played a significant role in mediation that led to hostage releases and, as a key US ally, is involved in the postwar Gaza plan.
On Sunday, Egyptian and Qatari officials urged Israel to withdraw its troops from Gaza and to make room for the International Stabilization Force to assume the role of policing the Strip. Netanyahu’s public questions about the ability of the force to disarm Hamas may signal disagreements ahead.