US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace roadmap remains active and negotiations with Israel are continuing despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s objections, according to an official of the US-backed Board of Peace.

The official’s statement came after Netanyahu told his right-wing government that Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas was fully disarmed. The Israeli leader has said that disarmament must include heavy and light weapons and must occur before Israeli forces leave territory.

The Board of Peace official said the framework was designed to advance in verified stages and that Israel would not be required to make irreversible moves based only on promises. Discussions with the Israeli government were continuing, the official told Reuters.

The dispute is not simply over the broad goals of the plan. Israel, Hamas and mediators disagree over timing, verification and which party must act first.

What the roadmap proposes

Trump announced a breakthrough last month and said the roadmap would end military operations, disarm Hamas and other armed groups, and lead to a phased Israeli withdrawal.

An International Stabilization Force would work with a new Palestinian police service to provide security. A technocratic Palestinian administration operating under international supervision would manage daily affairs and reconstruction.

Hamas has avoided using the word “disarmament”. Its officials have said the group is prepared to hand over weapons for storage under a US-backed administration, but only if Israel first stops attacks and begins withdrawing.

Netanyahu says Israel cannot surrender territory or reduce military pressure until Hamas’s weapons have been removed and rendered unusable. Far-right members of his coalition oppose withdrawal and want the group’s complete destruction.

Political and humanitarian pressure

Netanyahu faces an election on October 27 and is under pressure from two directions. The United States, Israel’s most important military ally, wants progress towards ending the conflict. Far-right Israeli ministers warn that accepting the roadmap on Hamas’s terms would waste the gains of the war.

Israel’s military has scaled back attacks in Gaza under US pressure, according to Reuters. However, the ceasefire remains fragile, and violence has continued since it was agreed in October 2025.

More than 1,250 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials cited by Reuters. Hamas does not provide a separate count of fighters killed. Israel says four of its soldiers have died in militant attacks during the same period.

Israeli forces control and have depopulated about two-thirds of the enclave, leaving most of Gaza’s more than two million residents confined to a narrow coastal area. Many people are living in tents or damaged buildings and remain dependent on humanitarian aid.

Why the plan is difficult to implement

The roadmap’s central challenge is sequencing. Israel wants verified disarmament before withdrawal. Hamas wants withdrawal and an end to attacks before surrendering weapons. Without a trusted mechanism to carry out both commitments in parallel, either side can accuse the other of delaying.

Questions also remain about who would command the international force, which countries would contribute troops, how Palestinian police would be selected and who would finance reconstruction.

For India, the outcome matters because continued conflict affects citizens and workers across West Asia, energy prices, shipping costs and diplomatic relations with Israel, Palestine and Arab partners.

The Board of Peace says the plan is advancing, but no final implementation schedule has been announced. Until the parties agree on verifiable first steps, the roadmap remains a diplomatic framework rather than a secured end to the conflict.