The IDF has not carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, following a months-long campaign of near-daily operations targeting terrorists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and held hostages. The pause comes after a conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov, during which Mladenov asked Israel to suspend the strikes for two weeks to allow negotiations with Hamas to be finalized.
The proposed agreement with Hamas calls for a gradual process of disarming the group and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, alongside a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. The process is meant to unfold in stages. Initially, the IDF would withdraw to the Yellow Line established under the first hostage deal, after having expanded its control in recent months to roughly 70% of the Gaza Strip.
The pause comes after a conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov
(Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
However, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday that "Israel will not withdraw from its current positions in the Gaza Strip and will continue to eliminate any threat to our civilians and soldiers."
The statement came shortly after ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock said the Security Cabinet had been presented with inaccurate information about the Gaza plan that omitted details published in recent days. According to Cabinet ministers, "The roadmap speaks of a gradual withdrawal. Israel's position was that withdrawal would begin only after Hamas was disarmed. Now they are saying that every time Hamas gives up part of its weapons, we are supposed to withdraw a little more. The entire demilitarization process is fake. There is no real disarmament, only a transfer of weapons into Palestinian hands, where they will be governed by the Palestinian law in force in Ramallah. That law does not regard terrorism against Jews as a crime. On the contrary, it pays money to the killers of Jews."
Amid the controversy, the Board of Peace released a statement Tuesday evening about Mladenov's meeting with Netanyahu, avoiding direct reference to the dispute.
"As part of the process of disarming Gaza, enabling the transition to civilian governance and creating a safer future for both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, the High Representative met today with the Prime Minister of Israel," the statement said. "The meeting was constructive and detailed. Israel and the Board of Peace share a common understanding of the ultimate objectives."
According to the Board of Peace, "The goal is clear and beyond dispute: the complete disarmament of the Gaza Strip and the transition from rule by force of arms to civilian governance. Achieving this will be a process, and that process will be detailed in the next phase of the work."
The Board of Peace added that, "Contrary to inaccurate reports, the IDF's full withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line will take place only after the disarmament process has been completed, as Hamas committed to the mediators. This applies equally to small arms, heavy weapons and tunnels. Implementation will be monitored by the International Stabilization Force and the Implementation Verification Committee, which includes both the United States and the Board of Peace. Further progress toward full implementation depends on each side fulfilling its commitments under the agreed framework."
After the issue was not addressed directly in the Board's official statement, a source in the Board of Peace told ynet that the debate over the Yellow Line was essentially "a game of words."
"In practice, the IDF is already positioned on the Yellow Line," the source said. "Everything beyond it consists only of concrete barriers, so the IDF has been, and will remain, on the Yellow Line. Once Hamas is disarmed, the IDF will withdraw. If Hamas is not disarmed, the IDF will remain free to operate, as it has over the past two months."
The weapons are supposed to be transferred from the terrorist organizations to Palestinian control, a provision that has drawn sharp criticism from Smotrich and Strock.
The Board of Peace source dismissed claims that Netanyahu had not been briefed on the plan as "nonsense."
"All the agreements and materials have been with the Prime Minister's Office and the National Security Council for many weeks," the source said. "They have been fully informed, with complete transparency."
The framework document was published Friday. Under its terms, within 14 days of approval by both sides, a detailed timetable would be launched, culminating in the transfer of all civilian and security authority to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). During that period, the Board of Peace said Israel was expected to halt strikes in Gaza, although it did not do so.
Earlier Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had killed Mahmoud Fatair, a Nukhba commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, held hostage Rom Braslavski in captivity and took part in hostage release "ceremonies." He was killed over the weekend in Deir al-Balah.
The senior Israeli official's remarks, which contradicted the reported commitment, came in response to a demand by Smotrich and Strock that Netanyahu halt the deployment of the International Stabilization Force in Gaza. They argued that the conditions outlined in the "roadmap" were not those approved by the Security Cabinet. Netanyahu has not yet responded publicly to their demand.
Other Cabinet ministers said, "The roadmap speaks of a gradual withdrawal. Israel's position was that withdrawal would begin only after Hamas was disarmed. Now they are saying that every time Hamas gives up part of its weapons, we are supposed to withdraw a little more. The entire demilitarization process is fake. There is no real disarmament, only a transfer of weapons into Palestinian hands, where they will be governed by the Palestinian law in force in Ramallah. That law does not regard terrorism against Jews as a crime. On the contrary, it pays money to the killers of Jews."
They added: "The United States is establishing an entity in Gaza that rewards the killers of Jews" — referring to the Palestinian Authority, according to the ministers. "That is not demilitarization. Every objective we set for the war, and every objective in the Trump plan, has been thrown out the window. The Trump plan has more holes than Swiss cheese. The Americans promised us one translation, and the 'objective' mediators, Turkey and Qatar, convinced them to adopt another version that nullifies the entire idea of disarmament and turns it into 'fake demilitarization.' Israel has announced that it will not withdraw and will continue targeted killings. Smotrich is essentially demanding that the Cabinet decision be revoked and that no foreign force be allowed into Gaza until the decision is corrected."
First published: 22:06, 08.03.26