Jerusalem The question on everyone’s mind this week, is Israel out of Gaza, still does not have a simple answer. Trump’s Board of Peace stepped in on Monday to reassure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will only start once Hamas has fully given up its weapons. The move came after Netanyahu’s office raised sharp objections to a withdrawal roadmap that the board had circulated just days earlier.
The dispute has once again put the wider Netanyahu Gaza disengagement process in doubt, more than two decades after Israel first pulled troops and settlers out of the territory under a very different disengagement plan in 2005. That earlier move, often remembered as the Israel/Palestine 2005 agreement era, is frequently compared to the current negotiations, even though the political landscape today is far more complicated.
Background: From the 2005 Pullout to the 2026 Ceasefire Plan
To understand why people keep asking whether Israel is out of Gaza, it helps to look back at history. In 2005, under then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel carried out a unilateral disengagement, dismantling all Jewish settlements inside the Gaza Strip and withdrawing its military. That withdrawal is widely referred to as the original exodus from Gaza, and it reshaped the Gaza Strip Israel map for nearly two decades afterward.
That 2005 chapter did not bring lasting peace. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, and the years since have seen repeated rounds of conflict, blockades, and failed negotiations. The current war, which reignited on a massive scale, has left much of Gaza in ruins, with cities like Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp reduced to rubble in many areas.
This year, US President Donald Trump introduced a postwar transition body known as the Board of Peace, tasked with overseeing Gaza’s recovery and a phased Israeli withdrawal. The board includes high-profile figures and was meant to bridge the gap between Israeli security demands and Palestinian governance needs on the ground.
Details: What Happened This Week
On Thursday, the Board of Peace released a draft text calling for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal from Gaza and for an immediate halt to Israeli strikes inside the territory. Netanyahu’s security cabinet reacted strongly, with two senior members reportedly pushing for a vote to scrap the entire agreement that Trump has championed for months.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had formally raised its concerns with Washington. The objection came just days after Trump had publicly praised what he called a major milestone, an agreement under which Hamas would hand over its weapons to a newly formed Palestinian governing committee.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, met with Netanyahu on Monday to try to close the gap between the two sides. He later described the discussion as difficult but said the board and Israel had reached what it called a common understanding of shared objectives going forward.
According to the board’s own statement, Israeli forces will not move beyond what is known as the Yellow Line, the boundary marking areas still under Hamas influence, until weapons decommissioning is fully complete. This detail is central to why Israel is not out of Gaza yet, despite the ceasefire framework technically being in place.
Quotes: What Officials Are Saying
Mohammad Dahlan, a senior Palestinian political figure closely involved in shaping the Gaza plan, said he had spoken with Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who indicated Israel would halt strikes in Gaza starting Sunday. Dahlan later revised his statement, clarifying that Kushner was instead working with the Israeli side to try to stop the attacks rather than confirming a firm halt.
Dahlan went further in a separate post, accusing Netanyahu of trying to obstruct what he called the most promising opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza. His comments reflect the growing frustration among Palestinian officials who feel the withdrawal timeline keeps slipping further away.
The Board of Peace, for its part, struck a more diplomatic tone in its public statement, describing its relationship with Israel as one built on shared long-term objectives rather than open conflict, even as it acknowledged the process remains difficult on the ground.
Impact: Why This Matters Regionally and Globally
The uncertainty over the Netanyahu Gaza disengagement timeline carries heavy consequences for civilians still inside Gaza, many of whom have already lived through repeated waves of displacement, an ongoing exodus from Gaza that has pushed hundreds of thousands from their homes multiple times during this war.
There is also a wider regional angle. Analysts often link the pace and direction of Gaza negotiations to broader questions about Israel settlement plan activity elsewhere. Many observers continue to ask why does Israel keep expanding its footprint in the region, and why is Israel building settlements in West Bank areas even as the Gaza ceasefire talks continue, arguing that West Bank settlement expansion complicates any long-term two-state framework.
Internationally, the outcome of this standoff will shape how much credibility Trump’s Board of Peace retains as a mediator. A collapse of the deal could reignite large-scale fighting, while a successful, verified disarmament process could finally bring the phased Israeli withdrawal that much of the international community has been pushing for since the ceasefire framework was first announced.
For neighboring countries, and for global powers monitoring the wider Middle East, including tensions tied to other flashpoints in the region, a stable resolution in Gaza is seen as a key building block for broader regional stability.
Conclusion: What Comes Next
For now, the honest answer to is Israel out of Gaza is no, not yet, and not fully. Israeli forces remain positioned behind the Yellow Line, and any further withdrawal is explicitly tied to Hamas completing its weapons handover, a condition that has not yet been met in full.
Both sides appear to be signaling a willingness to keep talking rather than abandon the framework altogether, despite the tense exchanges over the past week. Much will depend on whether Hamas follows through on decommissioning and whether Netanyahu’s cabinet remains united behind continuing negotiations rather than scrapping the deal.
In the coming weeks, expect further meetings between Board of Peace representatives and Israeli officials, continued scrutiny of the Gaza Strip Israel map as territory changes hands, and close attention from Palestinian leaders like Dahlan, who have made clear they see this as a critical, possibly final, window for ending the war.
FAQs
Is Israel moving out of Gaza?
Israel has not yet fully withdrawn from Gaza. Under the current framework backed by Trump’s Board of Peace, Israeli forces will only move beyond the so-called Yellow Line once Hamas completes the full decommissioning of its weapons, a process that is still ongoing and has faced repeated delays and objections from Netanyahu’s own security cabinet.
When did Israel get out of Gaza?
Israel’s first major withdrawal from Gaza took place in 2005, when then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led a unilateral disengagement that dismantled all Israeli settlements inside the territory and pulled out military forces. However, Israel later returned militarily during multiple conflicts, and the current war has again put Israeli forces inside large parts of Gaza, meaning a full and lasting withdrawal has still not been completed.
Why did Israel leave the Gaza Strip?
In 2005, Israel left Gaza as part of a strategic disengagement plan aimed at reducing friction with the Palestinian population while maintaining control over borders, airspace, and coastline. The move was controversial domestically and did not bring lasting peace, as Hamas later took control of Gaza, setting the stage for the repeated rounds of conflict that continue to shape the region today.
