Netanyahu's Public Rejection and Underlying Dynamics of Gaza Peace Plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently articulated Israel's rejection of the 15-point Gaza roadmap proposed by the US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace. Netanyahu stated unequivocally that the Israeli army would not pull back from Palestinian territory until Hamas was completely disarmed. Concurrently, Hamas reiterated its commitment to the roadmap, emphasizing the necessity of guarantees regarding a ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction efforts.
According to Nickolay Mladenov, an envoy for the Board of Peace, who spoke on Israel's Channel 12, any Israeli disengagement would be gradual, focusing initially on areas deemed free of weapons. International forces are envisioned to assume control of territories vacated by Israel, with the disarmament process eventually encompassing all armed factions in Gaza, not exclusively Hamas.
De-escalation and Reconstruction Efforts in Gaza
Despite Israel's public dismissal of the plan, observable shifts on the ground have been noted. The number of Palestinian fatalities in Gaza saw a significant reduction, dropping from 47 between July 27 and August 3 to eight in the subsequent week ending August 10, as reported by Gaza's Health Ministry. This period immediately followed Trump's initial announcement regarding the disarmament agreement.
Israeli Army Radio disclosed that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz had covertly sanctioned rehabilitation initiatives aimed at rebuilding essential infrastructure in eastern Rafah. Palestinian laborers are reportedly permitted to work on these sites after undergoing screening by Shin Bet, Israel's security agency. However, this project is linked to the "Green Rafah" temporary-housing initiative. Concerns have been raised by experts who suggest that this construction, rather than being solely humanitarian, could further solidify Israel's military presence within Gaza and exacerbate its fragmentation. It has been reported that Israel has withheld caravans intended for housing residents until after its October election, despite the October 2025 "ceasefire" agreement.
Conversely, media outlets, citing US officials, indicate that the Israeli army has not received directives to halt preparations for the agreement's second phase. Construction for a preliminary base for the incoming International Stabilization Force is reportedly slated to commence in Rafah by the end of August. Netanyahu is navigating dual pressures: from US allies to advance to the second phase, and from his far-right political allies who advocate for expanding control and even colonizing more of Gaza as elections approach.
Continued Violence and Humanitarian Crisis
Despite a reduction in the intensity of attacks, violence persists within the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli forces were responsible for the death of a Palestinian man in Deir el-Balah on a recent Saturday. Additionally, at least five other Palestinians sustained injuries, including incidents involving an Israeli tank strike on tents in Khan Younis and gunfire in al-Mawasi and Gaza City.
Since the October "ceasefire," a total of 1,258 Palestinians have been killed and 4,139 wounded, with 807 bodies recovered from rubble as of August 10. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that since October 2023, the conflict has resulted in 73,386 Palestinian fatalities and 174,250 injuries. Gaza also witnessed one of the largest mass funerals of the conflict for 112 members of the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families, who died in a November 2023 strike, with their remains only recently recovered. Over 150 individuals from the same incident remain unaccounted for. Recently, crews manually recovered 19 more bodies, predominantly women and children, from a collapsed building after four days of digging, as Israel continues to restrict the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza. The Health Ministry estimates that over 8,000 people are still missing under rubble across the Strip.
A satellite assessment conducted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed that as of mid-June, 82 percent of all structures in Gaza—exceeding 201,000 buildings—remained either damaged or destroyed.
West Bank Under Siege and Settler Activities
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces conducted a significant, multi-day operation in Qalandiya refugee camp and the adjacent Kafr Aqab, north of occupied East Jerusalem. Local reports documented the demolition of a carwash, severe assault on a journalist, and a military vehicle running over a young man. By midweek, Israeli forces had occupied community and government offices, displaced a family from their residence, and impeded dawn prayers. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society reported that over 60 residents, including women and children, were detained and interrogated in homes converted into field posts. Since October 2023, more than 25,600 Palestinians have been arrested across the West Bank.
Upon the Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Qalandiya area by Friday overnight, Palestinian officials reported 51 injuries, mostly from severe beatings. Separately, a 14-year-old was shot in the back in Jenin, according to the Wafa news agency. An Israeli military inquiry into last month's settler attacks on Tal, which resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and two Israelis, undermined the justification for raids across the occupied West Bank. Israeli investigators found that the settler hike preceding the killings was unauthorized, an insufficient number of troops responded to the altercations, and they could not rule out that one of the Israelis killed was shot by Israeli soldiers, as reported by The Times of Israel. Since then, thirteen new unauthorized settler outposts have emerged near Tal, with political leadership preventing the army from removing them.
New illegal outposts are also spreading elsewhere. In Qusra, south of Nablus, settlers from the Jabal Ein Eina hill outpost, which has been a base for sometimes deadly attacks on Qusra in recent months, erected a tent directly in front of a Palestinian family's home on the town's periphery, effectively trapping the family. Similar tactics were employed weeks earlier against the Tubassi family in Jalud, who were forced out after a two-week siege supported by Israeli soldiers.
Meanwhile, Israeli ministers and parliament members laid the cornerstone for a new illegal settlement, Emek Dotan, near Arrabeh, Jenin, in a ceremony attended by 22 settler families, according to Wafa. Additionally, the Israeli NGO Ir Amim reported on Monday that the Israeli government recently advanced three further settlement plans in occupied East Jerusalem: approximately 650 housing units at the main entrance of the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Tuba; approximately 450 housing units in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Lison; and an additional 2,300 housing units to expand the illegal settlement of Gilo, which would further disconnect occupied East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank area.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented 2,256 attacks against Palestinians and their property in July alone—1,458 by Israeli forces and 798 by settlers. Ramallah, el-Bireh, Nablus, and Jenin were the most affected areas. A rare exception to the near-total impunity of settler violence occurred on Thursday when prosecutors indicted settler Yinon Levi for the killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen last year. This marked the first such charge in the West Bank in over seven years, with more than 93 percent of settler-attack investigations concluding without indictment. The day after the indictment, settlers disrupted a wedding in Umm Al-Khair, which residents described to Al Jazeera as an act of retribution.
