U.S. Ambassador to Israel: IDF Does Not Need to Withdraw Before Hamas is "Completely Disarmed"

Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, August 19 (Reporter Chen Junqing, Feng Guorui) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stated on the 18th that the Israeli military does not need to withdraw from the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is "completely disarmed."

In an interview with Israel's Channel 12, Huckabee denied reports of a conflict between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner regarding the next phase of the "Gaza Peace Plan," stating that as long as Hamas still holds weapons, Israel will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and the U.S. "does not expect Israel to withdraw."

He also mentioned that the U.S. and Israel have reached a "good" agreement. Trump has made it clear that Hamas must disarm and cannot participate in the future governance of Gaza.

According to a report by the Israel Times on the 18th, citing a source, after Kushner's talks with Netanyahu, the U.S.-initiated "Peace Committee" is considering a new framework to achieve "the complete disarmament of Hamas" and "the full withdrawal of Israel."

On July 30, Trump announced on social media that the "Peace Committee" had reached an agreement on the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza Strip. The next day, the "Peace Committee" released a peace plan containing 15 points. According to the plan, Hamas should disarm, and Israel will withdraw from Gaza in phases. Later on the 31st, Hamas issued a statement saying that the prerequisite for handing over weapons is the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Netanyahu recently publicly rejected the Gaza Peace Plan, stating that the Israeli military will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip until Hamas is truly disarmed.