Netanyahu says no to Trump's Hamas disarmament plan

It has taken him more than a week but now Benjamin Netanyahu has come out and said he rejects the Hamas disarmament peace plan announced with such fanfare by Donald Trump. Well, of course he has. Netanyahu will never agree to any plan which stipulates that Israeli troops must withdraw from Gaza in a phased programme while Hamas throws a few weapons on a pile. The Trump plan is doomed. Hamas agreed to disarm but only on the understanding that Israel would totally withdraw from Gaza. But Netanyahu's future as prime minister rests on him being able to claim victory over Hamas which, in his mind, means the terror organisation must be seen to be disarmed of all weaponry BEFORE he orders any of the Israel Defence Forces to start leaving the Gaza Strip. Currently the IDF controls and occupies more than half of the territory. Now, of course, this will give Hamas the excuse to say to Trump, 'sorry, we're not going to disarm while the IDF refuses to leave Gaza'. Bang goes Trump's dream. It may be a ploy by Netanyahu to stir things up and force Hamas to adopt a different approach. But it seems more likely that between now and the elections in Israel in October, Netanyau is not going to give an inch on Gaza or Hamas.