Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan and vows no withdrawal until Hamas disarms

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>Israeli prime minister says he will not support 15-point plan hailed by Donald Trump </p><p></p><p><strong>Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Gaza plan hailed by US president Donald Trump, vowing no military pullout of Gaza until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed. </strong>The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.</p><p>Here are the other key updates from today:</p><p><strong>The US must pressure Israel to accept the next phase of the Gaza plan, a Hamas official said, after Netanyahu rejected the US-backed agreement.</strong> “We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said.</p><p><strong>A Houthi drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast.</strong> The Iran'-backed group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had “succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast with a drone”.</p><p><strong>Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen killed at least four troops from the internationally-recognised government forces and injured 20 more personnel, two military sources said. </strong>The initial toll came from strikes on the Yemeni city of Mokha and surrounding areas, as well as Khokha, south of the port city of Hodeida, the sources said on condition of anonymity, after the Houthis announced they had targeted military forces and equipment on the Red Sea coast.</p><p><strong>Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian met the country’s supreme ⁠leader Mojtaba Khamenei around the start of the president’s third year in office in late July, state ⁠media said, ⁠and ​a paramilitary leader promised footage of Khamenei in the future. </strong>Khamenei was reportedly seriously injured in the ​February strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The promise to release footage of the leader by paramilitary Basij ⁠Organisation deputy Qasem Qoraishi appeared to be aimed ​at quashing speculation about his health.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/aug/09/iran-us-irgc-strait-of-hormuz-israel-netanyahu-trump-gaza-plan-latest-news-updates">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.