Netanyahu says Israeli forces will not be leaving Gaza amid domestic backlash

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Israeli forces will not be leaving Gaza, despite references to their withdrawal in the Donald Trump-approved "peace plan".

Trump's plan to end the war on Gaza was unveiled on Monday with a map showing three stages of withdrawal for the Israeli army to be implemented following the release of Israeli captives.

The map - which included no timeframe for each stage - showed Israeli forces moving in the third stage to a "security buffer zone" on the edge of the enclave.

According to the plan, the Israeli army would "progressively" hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) until they are "withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat".

Despite the apparent ambiguity in the language, the inclusion of a promise that Israel would not "occupy or annex Gaza" has already provoked a backlash from Netanyahu's allies, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denouncing it as a "betrayal".

Speaking in a video on his Hebrew-language account on X, Netanyahu portrayed the "peace plan" as a victory for Israel that would isolate Hamas.

"Instead of Hamas isolating us, we turned the tables and isolated it," he says in the video, speaking to a journalist.

As it happened: Trump announces 'historic' peace deal for Israel's war on Gaza

Read More »

"Now the entire world is pressuring Hamas to accept the conditions we set - the release of all the hostages, while the [Israeli army] remains in most of the strip."

He also ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said afterwards: "Netanyahu says 'yes' when he's in front of the cameras in Washington, then says 'but' when he returns and insists that this should not happen now."

A range of countries have welcomed the plan proposed by Trump, including the UK, Germany and several Arab states.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which is expected to eventually take over the running of the territory following a "reform" process, said it welcomed Trump's "sincere" efforts to end the war in Gaza.

Apparent contradiction

Netanyahu's stated opposition to eventual Palestinian statehood appears to contradict Trump's plan.

"While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people," it reads.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces on Tuesday killed at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, Al Jazeera reported, quoting hospital sources. 

The number includes at least 15 Palestinian aid seekers near a distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip, al-Awda and al-Aqsa hospitals reported.

At least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli bombing of a house west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Three Palestinians from the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on a tent housing displaced people near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.