Board of Peace caves to Netanyahu and rewrites Israeli withdrawal terms from Gaza

US President Donald Trump attends the inaugural meeting of the "Board of Peace" at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on 19 February 2026 (Saul Loeb/AFP)

The US-backed Board of Peace has hardened the conditions for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza after its senior officials met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The board linked any Israeli withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which divides Gaza into areas occupied by Israeli and Palestinian control, to the complete disarmament of Hamas, abandoning the phased approach it presented last week.

“Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators. This applies to light weapons, heavy weapons and the tunnels alike,” it said after Monday’s meeting.

The Yellow Line was established following the so-called ceasefire of October 2025.

Israel has since seized additional Palestinian territory and now controls more than 60 percent of the enclave, with Netanyahu even saying that the aim is to increase to around 70 percent.

Last week, a board official said Israel would initially withdraw to the Yellow Line under the disarmament plan.

The proposal also tied phased Israeli withdrawals to the gradual decommissioning of Palestinian weapons.

The board initially referred on Monday to the “full withdrawal of the IDF”, leaving open the possibility of earlier partial withdrawals.

It removed the word “full” minutes later, bringing its position closer to Netanyahu’s demand that Israel retain its forces until Hamas has completely disarmed.

Revision contradictions

The revision also contradicted the board’s high representative, Nickolay Mladenov, who said last week: “Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning.”

Hamas accepted the original sequence, and the board’s retreat risks undermining that agreement while rewarding Israel’s refusal to halt its attacks or withdraw.

Netanyahu told Mladenov that Israel would neither stop attacking Gaza nor pull back from the Yellow Line, Israel Hayom reported.

According to reports, Israel has also sought assurance that even after Hamas is disarmed, it has the right to attack Gaza.

Israel also objected to Turkish and Qatari participation in a committee monitoring disarmament and demanded the destruction, rather than storage, of Hamas weapons.

Mladenov played down expectations after the talks.

“This is the start of the hard phase and I have never pretended otherwise,” he wrote on X. “Not much of what we do now is dramatic. It is slow, grinding and technical work.”

Hours after the meeting, an Israeli air strike killed two Palestinians in Gaza City’s Sheikh Ajlin neighbourhood.