US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that Israel is “very happy” about the disarmament deal his Board of Peace inked a day earlier with Hamas, even as Israel has objected to the proposal and Hamas has said the deal’s implementation must begin with Israel complying.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on the agreement, which would see the IDF pull back from its positions in Gaza as Hamas lays down its weapons and transfers control of Gaza to a technocratic body. But a pair of statements attributed to a “senior Israeli official” have asserted that Israel does not accept the proposal and will not carry out any withdrawals from territory in Gaza as it requires.

One statement, issued by Netanyahu’s office on Thursday, said Israel demanded “the full disarmament of Hamas, including removal of the weaponry from Gaza and the complete demilitarization of the Strip as a condition for any process” of withdrawal. The statement added that the agreement does not include “a sufficient response to those demands.”

A second statement on Friday reiterated that Israel would not pull back its troops.

But asked during a cabinet meeting at his Camp David retreat whether the US has received any assurances from Israel that it will abide by the deal, Trump responded, “We do have an understanding with Israel.”

“Israel is very happy about it. Israel helped us, and they’ve been very good,” he said.

“Most people said that would be a deal that would be undoable. Will it go through its ups and downs? It’s a very complex situation over there… But it’s a great breakthrough. Nobody’s ever thought that it would be possible to disarm Hamas.”

US official reportedly pledged to Hamas to hold Israel to deal

On Friday, the Saudi publication Al Arabiya reported that mediators phoned a senior US official into a recent meeting with Hamas negotiators during which the Trump official pledged to hold Israel to the terms of the disarmament deal if Hamas held its end of the agreement.

The US official assured the Hamas negotiators that the US will require Israel to implement all terms of the agreement, including its withdrawals from Gaza, Al Arabiya said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The report came after Thursday’s statement from a “senior Israeli official” that explicitly rejected the disarmament proposal, asserting that it didn’t meet Israel’s demands for Hamas’s full disarmament.

A second statement issued to Israeli reporters by the “senior Israeli official” on Friday also indicated Jerusalem’s opposition to the Trump-feted disarmament proposal.

“In response to various publications this morning about political progress in the Gaza Strip, Israel has reiterated that there will be no IDF withdrawal from the current Yellow Line without........

© The Times of Israel