Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding an immediate halt to the entry of multinational forces into the Gaza Strip and oppose the emerging agreement sponsored by the Board of Peace. The two ministers called for the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet to convene immediately and adopt a decision blocking implementation of the roadmap and requiring the framework to be amended so that it conforms with Israel's war objectives.
At the heart of their letter is the claim that the cabinet decision approving the multinational force's entry was made on the basis of incorrect information. According to the ministers, the official document published by the Board of Peace over the weekend differs substantially from the framework presented to ministers during cabinet discussions. Smotrich and Strock warned that unless immediate action was taken, the framework would create a dangerous security reality that would tie the Israel Defense Forces' hands and fundamentally contradict the objective of dismantling Hamas.
The ministers pointed to a series of critical gaps, foremost among them what they described as the absence of genuine demilitarization in the Gaza Strip. Under the roadmap, they said, weapons and tunnels would not be destroyed or removed from Gaza but transferred to the authority of a new Arab body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). The document explicitly states that they would not be transferred to Israel. Moreover, contrary to the cabinet's position that the IDF would withdraw only after Gaza had been fully demilitarized, the document calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal alongside the demilitarization process.
Another issue drawing their opposition is the application of Palestinian Authority law in Gaza. The ministers warned that this would establish a government operating under a legal system that rewards terrorists through payment mechanisms. They argued that even Hamas members removed from their positions would continue receiving salaries, creating a workaround that would allow the terrorist organization's financing to continue.
Regarding the multinational International Stabilization Force (ISF), the ministers said its designated role differed from what they had been promised. Instead of acting to demilitarize the Strip and confront terrorist organizations, the force would serve as a buffer between the IDF and the new Arab governing body, effectively supervising Israeli activity. The document also establishes a new oversight mechanism, the International Verification Committee (IVC). The countries that would participate in the committee have not yet been determined, raising concerns that hostile elements could be included.
Finally, the ministers criticized the absence of any requirement making Gaza's reconstruction conditional on its demilitarization, as well as the lack of effective oversight of the entry of dual-use construction materials. Above all, they expressed outrage that the roadmap openly presents the establishment of a Palestinian state as a diplomatic objective, a development they described as an existential threat to Israel. Ultimately, Smotrich and Strock demanded that Netanyahu formally announce Israel's rejection of the current text and declare that the multinational forces would not be permitted to enter Gaza until substantial changes were made to the framework.
