Overview
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Hamas will receive a near-term deadline to disarm and asserted the IDF would move to occupy Gaza if it refuses, claiming international and U.S. backing.
- Smotrich added that the military has drafted plans and is weighing “two or three” operational alternatives for a potential move beyond the ceasefire’s Yellow Line, where Israel still controls over half the Strip.
- Hamas figures, including Ghazi Hamad and Khaled Mashaal, publicly rejected disarmament, while documents reported by Israeli media indicate the group is embedding loyalists into civilian institutions to preserve influence.
- Washington’s framework advanced with roughly $5–7 billion in reconstruction pledges and an International Stabilization Force that could reach about 20,000 personnel, with initial commitments from five countries.
- The ceasefire remains fragile, with Gaza authorities reporting at least 615 deaths since it began and Israeli forces citing ongoing tunnel clearances and security incidents along the truce line.