{"id":1008825,"date":"2026-08-18T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008825\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:00:23","slug":"hamas-says-its-committed-to-15-point-gaza-deal-while-board-of-peace-weighs-new-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008825\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas says it’s ‘committed’ to 15-point Gaza deal while Board of Peace weighs new plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hamas said on Tuesday that it remained committed to the US-backed Gaza disarmament deal, a day after a source told The Times of Israel that the Board of Peace is considering<\/a> abandoning its original framework, which would have seen the terror group disarming in phases, in favor of an all-at-once process supported by Israel.<\/p>\n

The terror group agreed to the Board of Peace plan last month and has pushed to move forward with it, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected it, saying Israel will not conduct any withdrawals until Hamas has been completely disarmed.<\/p>\n

Amid the disagreements, US President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner traveled to the region for a rare direct meeting<\/a> with Hamas\u00a0chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on Sunday, which was followed by a meeting<\/a> with Netanyahu the next day.<\/a> According to a source directly familiar with the negotiations, the Board of Peace is now weighing a change in approach to get Israel on side, which would require Hamas to hand over its weapons in full before any Israeli withdrawal \u2014 though it now risks losing support of Hamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas is committed to this agreed-upon process,\u201d Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP on Tuesday, referring to Trump\u2019s original 15-point plan that the terror group agreed to last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that, so far, the Israeli side has not given the mediators clear approval of the roadmap,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are timelines and procedural steps that need to be worked out in detail, but there must first be Israeli approval of the roadmap,\u201d the spokesman added.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tLeft to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House adviser Jared Kushner, Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov, Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya. (Chaim Goldberg\/FLASH90, Fabrice COFFRINI \/ AFP, AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)<\/p>\n

Under the 15-point plan, Hamas would be required to gradually hand over its weapons in different sectors of Gaza, as Israel conducts corresponding withdrawals from the Strip once the weapon handovers and tunnel destructions for a particular sector are verified by the Board of Peace.<\/p>\n

But after Kushner\u2019s meeting with Netanyahu on Monday, which also included Board of Peace officials Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the parties had agreed that \u201cthere would be no redeployment or reconstruction until Hamas is disarmed throughout Gaza,\u201d directly contradicting the 15-point plan.<\/p>\n

According to reports, Netanyahu told Kushner and the Board of Peace officials that the framework was politically \u201cproblematic\u201d ahead of Israel\u2019s October 27 Knesset election, insisting instead that Hamas take steps first.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinian gunmen from Hamas and Islamic Jihad gather next to Eid al-Fitr prayers in Gaza City, March 20, 2026. (AP\/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)<\/p>\n

Kushner, for his part, remained optimistic after his meetings with leaders from Hamas and Israel, saying\u00a0in an interview later Monday that progress in getting Hamas to give up its weapons could materialize in about a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could be seeing progress\u2026 in as little as 30 days, hopefully in starting to take some of the weapons out,\u201d Kushner told Fox News while in Israel, adding that the Israeli side voiced some \u201cvalid concerns\u201d during the Jerusalem meeting.<\/p>\n

Kushner also said that the US is \u201cnot going to restrict Israel\u2019s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n

IDF says it killed PIJ hostage-taker<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced Tuesday that a strike in the southern Gaza Strip earlier this week killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and abducted an Israeli hostage.<\/p>\n

The strike in Khan Younis on Sunday killed Tareq Anwar Khamis Ra\u2019i, identified by the army as a company commander in Islamic Jihad\u2019s supply unit.<\/p>\n

On October 7, Ra\u2019i invaded Kibbutz Be\u2019eri \u201cand took part in the abduction of an Israeli civilian,\u201d the IDF said, without detailing who the hostage was.<\/p>\n

\n

????ELIMINATED: Tareq Anwar Khamis Ra\u2019i, an Islamic Jihad company commander, who infiltrated Kibbutz Be\u2019eri during the October 7 Massacre and took part in the abduction of an Israeli civilian.<\/p>\n

He recently advanced terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians. pic.twitter.com\/E0NsGseWBk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The military justified the strike amid the ceasefire by saying that Ra\u2019i had recently been advancing attacks on troops and civilians.\n<\/p>\n

He was \u201celiminated to remove a threat,\u201d the IDF added, though the army has acknowledged<\/a> that it is engaged in a campaign to kill all those who took park in the October 7 attacks.<\/p>\n

Just 3% Gaza\u2019s cropland usable, UN says<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, the United Nation\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization warned that just three percent of the cropland in Gaza remains accessible and undamaged, citing an analysis of satellite images.<\/p>\n

The report found that since October 2025, when a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold, the area of accessible and undamaged cropland had fallen to 448 hectares from 601 hectares, a reduction of 25.5%.<\/p>\n

Another 3,643 hectares of cropland are accessible but too damaged to be farmed without rehabilitation, the FAO said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinian farmer Abdul Karim Shamlakh works in a vineyard against the backdrop of buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombardment in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood of Gaza City on August 13, 2026. (Omar AL-QATTAA\/AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout urgent action to restore safe access and provide farmers with the support they need, opportunities to restore local food production will continue to diminish,\u201d said Rein Paulsen, director of the agency\u2019s Office of Emergencies and Resilience.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on the import of agricultural goods are also hampering recovery, with livestock farmers struggling to obtain animal feed and veterinary supplies.<\/p>\n

Greenhouse availability has also declined, dropping 17.3% since October 2025 to 224 hectares that are accessible and undamaged.<\/p>\n

The FAO said the reduced access could be explained mainly by the westward expansion of the so-called Yellow Line that separates the ceasefire zone from the area controlled by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n


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