Nothing less.

The Timetable

August 3, 2026 · Ibid.

Editorial cartoon: in a dim Israeli war room, a wall-sized planning board is empty on the left and crowded on the right; a thick red vertical line labelled OCTOBER VOTE has been smeared and redrawn further right, and every withdrawal phase bar begins beyond it. An enormous Netanyahu reaches across with a fat red grease pencil, shoving the line rightward, while a small spokesman with an earpiece points a laser at Phase 1 and says the disarming comes first.

Israel says it has shared "serious security concerns" with the White House over the U.S.-brokered Hamas disarmament deal and will not withdraw troops until Hamas gives up its weapons. Netanyahu spokesperson Doron Spielman told the AP that "disarming means physically giving up the weapons, nothing less"; the deal announced by President Trump ties phased Israeli withdrawal to decommissioning, an international force and a Palestinian technocratic committee. Israel controls more than 60% of Gaza, strikes on Sunday killed at least 17 people, and Netanyahu faces an October election with far-right partners urging him to stay in place.